Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (OTCMKTS:CODYY) & Argan (NYSE:AGX) Critical Review

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (OTCMKTS:CODYY) and Argan (NYSE:AGX) are both large-cap construction companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Argan has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain pays an annual dividend of $0.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Argan pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan pays out 20.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Argan has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.4% of Argan shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.7% of Argan shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Compagnie de Saint-Gobain and Argan, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Compagnie de Saint-Gobain	1	3	1	1	2.33
Argan	0	4	4	1	2.67

Argan has a consensus price target of $425.40, indicating a potential downside of 38.51%. Given Argan’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Argan is more favorable than Compagnie de Saint-Gobain.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Compagnie de Saint-Gobain and Argan”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Compagnie de Saint-Gobain	$52.58 billion	0.88	$3.26 billion	N/A	N/A
Argan	$944.61 million	10.21	$137.77 million	$9.74	71.03

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain has higher revenue and earnings than Argan.

Profitability

This table compares Compagnie de Saint-Gobain and Argan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Compagnie de Saint-Gobain	N/A	N/A	N/A
Argan	14.59%	33.62%	14.09%

Summary

Argan beats Compagnie de Saint-Gobain on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Compagnie de Saint-Gobain

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. designs, manufactures, and distributes materials and solutions for the construction and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through five segments: High Performance Solutions; Northern Europe; Southern Europe Middle East (ME) & Africa; Americas; and Asia-Pacific. The company offers glazing solutions for buildings and vehicles under the Saint-Gobain, GlassSolutions, Vetrotech, and SageGlass brands; plaster-based products for construction and renovation markets under the Placo, Rigips, and Gyproc brands; ceilings under the Ecophon, CertainTeed, Eurocoustic, Sonex, and Vinh Tuong brands; and insulation solutions for a range of applications, such as construction, engine compartments, vehicle interiors, household appliances, and photovoltaic panels under the Isover, CertainTeed, and Izocam brands. It also provides mortars and construction chemicals under the Weber, Chryso, and GCP brands; exterior products comprising asphalt and composite shingles, solar roofing solutions, roll roofing systems, and accessories under the CertainTeed and Brasilit brands; and pipes under the PAM brand, as well as abrasives, adhesives, sealants, tapes, composites, and films. In addition, the company provides interior and exterior systems for construction and housing sectors; ceramics under the SEFPRO brand; polymer shakes and shingle, and insulation cladding solutions; and barriers, terraces, and balustrades. Further, it distributes heavy building materials; plumbing, heating, ventilation, and sanitaryware products; timber and byproducts; bathrooms and kitchens; and site equipment, PPEs, and tools. The company was founded in 1665 and is headquartered in Courbevoie, France.

About Argan

Argan, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity. This segment serves independent power project owners, public utilities, power plant equipment suppliers, and other commercial firms. The Industrial Services segment provides industrial construction and field services and vessel fabrication services for fertilizer, engineering and construction, forest products, and various other industrial companies in southeast region of the United States. The Telecom Services segment offers trenchless directional boring and excavation for underground communication and power networks, as well as aerial cabling services; and installs buried cable, high and low voltage electric lines, and private area outdoor lighting systems. It also provides structured cabling, terminations, and connectivity that offers the physical transport for high-speed data, voice, video, and security networks. This segment serves electricity cooperative, state and local government agencies, counties and municipalities, and technology-oriented government contracting firms, as well as federal government facilities in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Argan, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.