Head to Head Analysis: Matrix Service (MTRX) & The Competition

Matrix Service (NASDAQ:MTRX) is one of 188 publicly-traded companies in the “Construction & Engineering” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Matrix Service to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Matrix Service has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matrix Service’s peers have a beta of 1.60, suggesting that their average share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Matrix Service and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matrix Service	1	0	1	1	2.67
Matrix Service Competitors	849	3465	7352	362	2.60

Matrix Service presently has a consensus price target of $16.50, indicating a potential upside of 71.16%. As a group, “Construction & Engineering” companies have a potential upside of 49.32%. Given Matrix Service’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Matrix Service is more favorable than its peers.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Matrix Service and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matrix Service	$873.63 million	-$2.58 million	37.08
Matrix Service Competitors	$9.57 billion	$456.60 million	-5,802.22

Matrix Service’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Matrix Service. Matrix Service is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Matrix Service and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Matrix Service	-0.30%	5.32%	1.20%
Matrix Service Competitors	-4.03%	2.63%	3.80%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.4% of Matrix Service shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.9% of shares of all “Construction & Engineering” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Matrix Service shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of shares of all “Construction & Engineering” companies 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.

Summary

Matrix Service beats its peers on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Matrix Service

Matrix Service Company provides engineering, fabrication, construction, and maintenance services to support critical energy infrastructure and industrial markets in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Utility and Power Infrastructure; Process and Industrial Facilities; and Storage and Terminal Solutions. The Utility and Power Infrastructure segment offers power delivery services, including construction of new substations, upgrades of existing substations, transmission and distribution line installations, and upgrades and maintenance, and emergency and storm restoration services. This segment also provides engineering, fabrication, and construction services for LNG utility peak shaving facilities; and construction and maintenance services to power generation facilities, including natural gas fired facilities. The Process and Industrial Facilities segment engages in the refining and processing of crude oil; fractionating and marketing of natural, gas and natural gas liquids; and offers plant maintenance, turnarounds, engineering, industrial cleaning services, and capital construction services. The Storage and Terminal Solutions segment undertakes work related to aboveground crude oil and refined product storage tanks and terminals; engineering, procurement, fabrication, and construction services related to cryogenic and other specialty tanks and terminals for LNG, NGLs, hydrogen, ammonia, propane, butane, liquid nitrogen/liquid oxygen, and liquid petroleum; and provides plant work, truck and rail loading/offloading facilities, and marine structures, as well as storage tank and terminal maintenance and repair. This segment also manufactures and sells precision engineered specialty tank products, including geodesic domes, aluminum internal floating roofs, floating suction and skimmer systems, roof drain systems, and floating roof seals. Matrix Service Company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.