Financial Survey: APi Group (NYSE:APG) versus Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA)

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) and APi Group (NYSE:APG) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.6% of APi Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Granite Construction shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.7% of APi Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Granite Construction has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, APi Group has a beta of 1.6, meaning that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Granite Construction and APi Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Granite Construction	-3.32%	27.83%	7.17%
APi Group	3.99%	37.59%	14.07%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Granite Construction and APi Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Granite Construction	$4.42 billion	1.18	$193.00 million	($4.31)	-27.61
APi Group	$7.91 billion	2.08	$302.00 million	($0.67)	-56.71

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Granite Construction and APi Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Granite Construction	2	1	2	1	2.33
APi Group	0	2	6	1	2.89

Granite Construction currently has a consensus price target of $158.50, suggesting a potential upside of 33.18%. APi Group has a consensus price target of $52.57, suggesting a potential upside of 38.36%. Given APi Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe APi Group is more favorable than Granite Construction.

Summary

APi Group beats Granite Construction on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects. The Materials segment is involved in the production of aggregates, asphalt concrete, liquid asphalt, and recycled materials production for internal use in our construction projects and sale to third parties. It also offers site preparation, mining, and infrastructure services for residential development, energy development, commercial and industrial sites, railways, residential development, and energy development; and provides construction management professional services. It serves federal agencies, state departments of transportation, local transit authorities, county and city public works departments, school districts and developers, utilities, contractors, landscapers, manufacturers of products requiring aggregate materials, retailers, homeowners, farmers, brokers, and private owners of industrial, commercial, and residential sites. Granite Construction Incorporated was incorporated in 1922 and is headquartered in Watsonville, California.

About APi Group

APi Group Corporation provides safety and specialty services worldwide. It operates through Safety Services and Specialty Services segments. The Safety Services segment offers solutions focusing on end-to-end integrated occupancy systems, such as fire protection services; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions; and entry systems, which include the design, installation, inspection, and service of these integrated systems. The Specialty Services segment provides various infrastructure and specialized industrial plant services, including maintenance and repair of underground electric, gas, water, sewer, and telecommunications infrastructure. This segment offers engineering and design, fabrication, installation, maintenance service and repair, retrofitting and upgrading services, pipeline infrastructure, access and road construction, supporting facilities, and integrity management and maintenance to the energy industry. It serves customers in the public and private sectors, including commercial, industrial, distribution and fulfillment centers, manufacturing, education, healthcare, telecom, utilities, transmission and integrity, high tech, entertainment, government, and infrastructure markets. The company was formerly known as J2 Acquisition Limited and changed its name to APi Group Corporation in October 2019. APi Group Corporation was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in New Brighton, Minnesota.