Head-To-Head Review: Babcock (BW) versus Its Peers

Babcock (NYSE:BW) is one of 218 publicly-traded companies in the “Electrical Equipment” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Babcock to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Babcock and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Babcock	$587.70 million	-$36.16 million	-57.38
Babcock Competitors	$2.30 billion	$136.23 million	24.27

Babcock’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Babcock. Babcock is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.2% of Babcock shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.6% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Babcock shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.4% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Babcock and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Babcock	1	2	3	0	2.33
Babcock Competitors	2132	4965	6909	412	2.39

Babcock currently has a consensus price target of $14.25, indicating a potential upside of 37.96%. As a group, “Electrical Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 16.98%. Given Babcock’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Babcock is more favorable than its competitors.

Risk and Volatility

Babcock has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Babcock’s competitors have a beta of -19.64, meaning that their average stock price is 2,064% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Babcock and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Babcock	-2.17%	-4.51%	0.70%
Babcock Competitors	-220.27%	-207.19%	-8.26%

Summary

Babcock beats its competitors on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

Babcock Company Profile

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. engages in the provision of fossil and renewable power generation and environmental equipment. It operates through the following segments: B&W Renewable, B&W Environmental, and B&W Thermal. The B&W Renewable segment supports a circular economy, diverting waste from landfills to use for power generation and replacing fossil fuels, while recovering metals and reducing emissions. The B&W Environmental segment focuses on systems for cooling, ash handling, particulate control, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides removal, chemical looping for carbon control, and mercury control. The B&W Thermal segment offers steam generation equipment, aftermarket parts, construction, maintenance, and field services for plants in the power generation, oil and gas, and industrial sectors. The company was founded by George H. Babcock, Stephen Wilcox, Jr., and Joseph P. Manton in 1856 and is headquartered in Akron, OH.