Comparing Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) and Mayville Engineering (NYSE:MEC)

Mayville Engineering (NYSE:MEC) and Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Mayville Engineering and Greenbrier Companies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mayville Engineering	1	1	4	0	2.50
Greenbrier Companies	1	3	0	0	1.75

Mayville Engineering currently has a consensus target price of $35.75, indicating a potential upside of 79.89%. Greenbrier Companies has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.15%. Given Mayville Engineering’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Mayville Engineering is more favorable than Greenbrier Companies.

Volatility and Risk

Mayville Engineering has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greenbrier Companies has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Mayville Engineering and Greenbrier Companies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mayville Engineering	$546.49 million	0.93	-$8.11 million	($0.84)	-23.66
Greenbrier Companies	$2.63 billion	0.50	$204.10 million	$3.37	12.70

Greenbrier Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Mayville Engineering. Mayville Engineering is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Greenbrier Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

45.4% of Mayville Engineering shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.6% of Greenbrier Companies shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of Mayville Engineering shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Greenbrier Companies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Mayville Engineering and Greenbrier Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mayville Engineering	-2.95%	-6.63%	-2.99%
Greenbrier Companies	4.07%	6.49%	2.55%

Summary

Greenbrier Companies beats Mayville Engineering on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mayville Engineering

Mayville Engineering Company, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, design, prototyping and tooling, fabrication, aluminum extrusion, coating, and assembling of aftermarket components in the United States. It also supplies engineered components to original equipment manufacturers. The company serves heavy and medium duty commercial vehicles, construction and access equipment, powersports, agriculture, military, and other end markets. Mayville Engineering Company, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Greenbrier Companies

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets railroad freight car equipment in North America, Europe, and South America. It operates through three segments: Manufacturing; Maintenance Services; and Leasing & Management Services. The Manufacturing segment offers covered hopper cars, gondolas, open top hoppers, boxcars, center partition cars, tank cars, sustainable conversions, double-stack railcars, auto-max ii, multi-max, and multi-max plus products, intermodal cars, automobile transport, coil steel and metals, flat cars, sliding wall cars, pressurized tank cars, and non-pressurized tank cars. The Maintenance Services segment provides wheel services, including reconditioning of wheels and axles, new axle machining and finishing, and downsizing; operates a railcar repair, refurbishment, and maintenance network; and reconditions and manufactures railcar cushioning units, couplers, yokes, side frames, bolsters, and various other parts. The Leasing & Management Services segment offers operating leases and per diem leases for a fleet of approximately 13,400 railcars; and management services comprising railcar maintenance management, railcar accounting services, fleet management and logistics, administration, and railcar re-marketing. This segment provides management services for railroads, shippers, carriers, institutional investors, and other leasing and transportation companies. It serves railroads, leasing companies, financial institutions, shippers, carriers, and transportation companies. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon.