Everus Construction Group (NYSE:ECG) & James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) Financial Contrast

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

Risk & Volatility

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for James Hardie Industries and Everus Construction Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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

James Hardie Industries currently has a consensus target price of $26.13, indicating a potential upside of 30.56%. Everus Construction Group has a consensus target price of $154.83, indicating a potential downside of 3.74%. Given James Hardie Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than Everus Construction Group.

Profitability

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

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Everus Construction Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
James Hardie Industries	$3.88 billion	2.22	$424.00 million	$0.27	74.11
Everus Construction Group	$3.75 billion	2.19	$201.77 million	$4.36	36.89

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.

Summary

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

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.

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.