Head-To-Head Review: Argan (NYSE:AGX) & Barratt Redrow (OTCMKTS:BTDPY)

Argan (NYSE:AGX) and Barratt Redrow (OTCMKTS:BTDPY) are both construction companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Argan and Barratt Redrow’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Argan	15.48%	36.89%	14.64%
Barratt Redrow	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Argan pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Barratt Redrow pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Argan pays out 17.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Argan has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Argan and Barratt Redrow, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Argan	0	4	4	0	2.50
Barratt Redrow	0	3	4	1	2.75

Argan presently has a consensus price target of $470.40, suggesting a potential downside of 36.30%. Given Argan’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Argan is more favorable than Barratt Redrow.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Argan and Barratt Redrow”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Argan	$944.61 million	10.96	$137.77 million	$11.38	64.89
Barratt Redrow	$7.22 billion	0.67	$241.22 million	N/A	N/A

Barratt Redrow has higher revenue and earnings than Argan.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.4% of Argan shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Barratt Redrow shares are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of Argan shares are held by 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.

Risk & Volatility

Argan has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barratt Redrow has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Argan beats Barratt Redrow on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Barratt Redrow

Barratt Redrow plc engages in the housebuilding business in the United Kingdom. The company acquires and develops land; plans, designs, and constructs homes, apartments, penthouses, and communities, as well as undertakes mixed-use regeneration schemes; and develops retail, leisure, office, industrial, and mixed-use properties. It is also involved in the commercial development business under the Wilson Bowden Developments brand name. The company offers its homes under the Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes, and Barratt London brands. The company was formerly known as Barratt Developments plc and changed its name Barratt Redrow plc in October 2024. Barratt Redrow plc was incorporated in 1958 and is headquartered in Coalville, the United Kingdom.