INNOVATE (NYSE:VATE) and Bowman Consulting Group (NASDAQ:BWMN) Financial Analysis

Bowman Consulting Group (NASDAQ:BWMN) and INNOVATE (NYSE:VATE) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Bowman Consulting Group and INNOVATE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bowman Consulting Group	1.30%	2.67%	1.20%
INNOVATE	-1.48%	N/A	-2.35%

Risk & Volatility

Bowman Consulting Group has a beta of 1.44, suggesting that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, INNOVATE has a beta of 2.33, suggesting that its share price is 133% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

63.2% of Bowman Consulting Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.3% of INNOVATE shares are held by institutional investors. 17.5% of Bowman Consulting Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 57.4% of INNOVATE shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Bowman Consulting Group and INNOVATE, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bowman Consulting Group	1	7	0	0	1.88
INNOVATE	1	0	0	0	1.00

Bowman Consulting Group presently has a consensus target price of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.01%. Given Bowman Consulting Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Bowman Consulting Group is more favorable than INNOVATE.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bowman Consulting Group and INNOVATE”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bowman Consulting Group	$527.60 million	1.40	$12.85 million	$0.40	106.42
INNOVATE	$1.52 billion	0.06	-$60.60 million	($1.87)	-3.78

Bowman Consulting Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than INNOVATE. INNOVATE is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bowman Consulting Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Bowman Consulting Group beats INNOVATE on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bowman Consulting Group

Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. provides a range of real estate, energy, infrastructure, and environmental management solutions in the United States. It offers civil and site engineering services, such as conceptual land planning, environmental consulting and permitting, planning/zoning and entitlements, roadway and highway designs, erosion and sediment designs, stormwater management designs, construction administration, traffic studies, floodplain studies, and utility relocation designs; and commissioning and energy efficiency services comprise construction observation, direct systems functional performance testing, system development readiness checklist, post occupancy review, review of construction documents, deferred/seasonal functional testing, final commissioning report, and commissioning review of submittals. The company also provides construction management services, including constructability review, value engineering, budgeting and cost estimating, interagency and utility coordination, onsite observation and report evaluation, public communication and outreach, and resident engineer services, as well as bid solicitation, documentation, and preparation services; and environmental consulting services consisting of wetlands and waters of the U.S. delineations, natural resources inventories, wildlife and vegetation surveys, threatened and endangered species surveys, endangered species conservation and management, wetland creation and enhancement design, NEPA documentation, section 404/401 permitting and compliance, NPDES permitting, and phase I environmental site assessment. In addition, it offers landscape architecture, land procurement and right-of-way acquisition, structural engineering, surveying and geospatial engineering, and transportation and water resources engineering services, as well as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering services. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

About INNOVATE

INNOVATE Corp., through its subsidiaries, operates in infrastructure, life sciences, and spectrum areas in the United States. The Infrastructure segment provides industrial construction, structural steel, and facility maintenance services, such as fabrication and erection of structural steel and heavy steel plate services, and large-diameter water pipes and water storage tanks; fabrication of trusses and girders; and 3-D building information modeling and detailing for commercial, industrial, and infrastructure construction projects, such as buildings and office complexes, hotels and casinos, convention centers, sports arenas and stadiums, shopping malls, hospitals, dams, bridges, mines, metal processing, refineries, pulp and paper mills, and power plants. This segment also offers solutions for digital engineering, modeling and detailing, construction, and heavy equipment installation and facility services including maintenance, repair, and installation; and manufactures pollution control scrubbers, tunnel liners, pressure vessels, strainers, filters, separators, and customized products. The Life Sciences segment develops products to treat early osteoarthritis of the knee; and aesthetic and medical technologies for the skin. The Spectrum segment operates over-the-air broadcasting stations across the United States; and Azteca America, a Spanish-language broadcast network. The company was formerly known as HC2 Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to INNOVATE Corp. in September 2021. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in New York, New York.