Orion Group (NYSE:ORN) & Bowman Consulting Group (NASDAQ:BWMN) Financial Survey

Bowman Consulting Group (NASDAQ:BWMN) and Orion Group (NYSE:ORN) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

63.2% of Bowman Consulting Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.3% of Orion Group shares are held by institutional investors. 17.5% of Bowman Consulting Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of Orion Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Bowman Consulting Group and Orion Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bowman Consulting Group	1.30%	2.67%	1.20%
Orion Group	0.62%	3.59%	1.23%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bowman Consulting Group and Orion Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bowman Consulting Group	$527.60 million	1.35	$12.85 million	$0.40	107.25
Orion Group	$927.55 million	0.37	$2.49 million	$0.15	56.13

Bowman Consulting Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Orion Group. Orion Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bowman Consulting Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Bowman Consulting Group and Orion Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bowman Consulting Group	1	7	0	0	1.88
Orion Group	2	0	5	0	2.43

Bowman Consulting Group presently has a consensus price target of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.23%. Orion Group has a consensus price target of $14.75, indicating a potential upside of 75.18%. Given Orion Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Orion Group is more favorable than Bowman Consulting Group.

Volatility and Risk

Bowman Consulting Group has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orion Group has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

About Bowman Consulting Group

Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. provides a range of real estate, energy, infrastructure, and environmental management solutions in the United States. It offers civil and site engineering services, such as conceptual land planning, environmental consulting and permitting, planning/zoning and entitlements, roadway and highway designs, erosion and sediment designs, stormwater management designs, construction administration, traffic studies, floodplain studies, and utility relocation designs; and commissioning and energy efficiency services comprise construction observation, direct systems functional performance testing, system development readiness checklist, post occupancy review, review of construction documents, deferred/seasonal functional testing, final commissioning report, and commissioning review of submittals. The company also provides construction management services, including constructability review, value engineering, budgeting and cost estimating, interagency and utility coordination, onsite observation and report evaluation, public communication and outreach, and resident engineer services, as well as bid solicitation, documentation, and preparation services; and environmental consulting services consisting of wetlands and waters of the U.S. delineations, natural resources inventories, wildlife and vegetation surveys, threatened and endangered species surveys, endangered species conservation and management, wetland creation and enhancement design, NEPA documentation, section 404/401 permitting and compliance, NPDES permitting, and phase I environmental site assessment. In addition, it offers landscape architecture, land procurement and right-of-way acquisition, structural engineering, surveying and geospatial engineering, and transportation and water resources engineering services, as well as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering services. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

About Orion Group

Orion Group Holdings, Inc., a leading specialty construction company serving the infrastructure, industrial and building sectors, provides services both on and off the water in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and the Caribbean Basin through its marine segment and its concrete segment. The Company’s marine segment provides construction and dredging services related to marine transportation facility construction, marine pipeline construction, marine environmental structures, dredging of waterways, channels and ports, environmental dredging, design, and specialty services. Its concrete segment provides turnkey concrete construction services including place and finish, site prep, layout, forming, and rebar placement for large commercial, structural and other associated business areas. The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas with regional offices throughout its operating areas.