Everus Construction Group (NYSE:ECG) vs. James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Financial Review

Everus Construction Group (NYSE:ECG) and James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Everus Construction Group and James Hardie Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Everus Construction Group	0	6	3	0	2.33
James Hardie Industries	0	4	10	0	2.71

Everus Construction Group presently has a consensus price target of $154.83, indicating a potential downside of 1.28%. James Hardie Industries has a consensus price target of $26.13, indicating a potential upside of 35.37%. Given James Hardie Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than Everus Construction Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Everus Construction Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Everus Construction Group and James Hardie Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Everus Construction Group	5.65%	37.17%	13.38%
James Hardie Industries	2.70%	13.52%	5.81%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Everus Construction Group and James Hardie Industries”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Everus Construction Group	$3.75 billion	2.14	$201.77 million	$4.36	35.97
James Hardie Industries	$3.88 billion	2.14	$424.00 million	$0.27	71.48

James Hardie Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Everus Construction Group. Everus Construction Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than James Hardie Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Everus Construction Group has a beta of 2.55, indicating that its stock price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.79, indicating that its stock price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

James Hardie Industries beats Everus Construction Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Everus Construction Group

Everus Construction Group is providing a full spectrum of construction services through its electrical and mechanical and transmission and distribution specialty contracting services principally in United States. Its specialty contracting services are provided to utility, transportation, commercial, industrial, institutional, renewable and other customers. Everus Construction Group is based in BISMARCK, N.D.

About James Hardie Industries

James Hardie Industries plc manufactures and sells fiber cement, fiber gypsum, and cement bonded building products for interior and exterior building construction applications primarily in the United States, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The company operates through North America Fiber Cement, Asia Pacific Fiber Cement, and Europe Building Products segments. It offers fiber cement interior linings, exterior siding products, and related accessories; and various fiber cement products for a range of applications, including external cladding, internal walls, ceilings, floors, soffits, fences, and facades. The company also provides fiber gypsum and cement-bonded boards for use in the timber frame construction, dry lining, DIY, and structural fire protection applications. Its products are used in residential repair and remodel, and commercial and residential new construction markets James Hardie Industries plc was founded in 1888 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.