Head to Head Analysis: Limbach (NASDAQ:LMB) vs. Southland (NASDAQ:SLND)

Limbach (NASDAQ:LMB) and Southland (NASDAQ:SLND) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

55.8% of Limbach shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.8% of Southland shares are held by institutional investors. 7.0% of Limbach shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 73.4% of Southland shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Limbach has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southland has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Limbach and Southland”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Limbach	$683.77 million	0.87	$39.06 million	$2.50	19.98
Southland	$603.01 million	0.06	-$19.25 million	($7.46)	-0.09

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

Profitability

This table compares Limbach and Southland’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Limbach	4.42%	23.22%	11.48%
Southland	-10.38%	-47.71%	-8.75%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Limbach and Southland, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Limbach	2	1	2	0	2.00
Southland	0	1	0	0	2.00

Limbach currently has a consensus target price of $70.25, indicating a potential upside of 40.67%. Given Limbach’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Limbach is more favorable than Southland.

Summary

Limbach beats Southland on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Limbach

Limbach Holdings, Inc. operates as a building systems solution company in the United States. It operates through two segments, General Contractor Relationships and Owner Direct Relationships. The company engages in the construction and renovation projects that involve primarily include mechanical, plumbing, and electrical services. It also provides critical system repair, MEP infrastructure projects, maintenance contracts, building automation upgrades, data driven insights, and program management services. In addition, it offers captive engineering capabilities, estimating and virtual design; and professional engineering, energy analysis, estimation, and detail design and three-dimensional building installation coordination services. The company serves research, acute care, and inpatient hospitals; public and private colleges, universities, research centers; sports arenas; entertainment facilities, and amusement rides and parks; data centers; automotive, energy and general manufacturing plants; and life sciences, including organizations and companies, whose work is centered around research and development focused on living things. Limbach Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania.

About Southland

Southland Holdings, Inc. engages in specialty infrastructure construction business in North America and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Civil and Transportation. The Civil segment designs and constructs water pipelines, pump stations, lift stations, water and wastewater treatment plants, concrete and structural steel, outfall, and tunneling. The Transportation segment designs and constructs bridges, roadways, marine, dredging, ship terminals and piers, and specialty structures and facilities, as well as convention centers, sports stadiums, marine facilities, and ferris wheels. Southland Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas.