AECOM (NYSE:ACM) versus Vesuvius (OTCMKTS:CKSNY) Head-To-Head Analysis

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) and Vesuvius (OTCMKTS:CKSNY) are both construction companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for AECOM and Vesuvius, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AECOM	0	4	9	0	2.69
Vesuvius	0	0	0	0	0.00

AECOM currently has a consensus price target of $115.36, suggesting a potential upside of 68.93%. Given AECOM’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe AECOM is more favorable than Vesuvius.

Dividends

AECOM pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Vesuvius pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. AECOM pays out 32.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AECOM has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares AECOM and Vesuvius’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AECOM	3.16%	28.52%	6.08%
Vesuvius	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AECOM and Vesuvius”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AECOM	$16.14 billion	0.54	$561.77 million	$3.83	17.83
Vesuvius	$2.39 billion	0.60	$68.84 million	N/A	N/A

AECOM has higher revenue and earnings than Vesuvius.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.4% of AECOM shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of AECOM shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

AECOM has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vesuvius has a beta of -0.25, indicating that its share price is 125% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AECOM beats Vesuvius on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AECOM

AECOM, together with its subsidiaries, provides professional infrastructure consulting services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Americas, International, and AECOM Capital. The company offers planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, construction and program management, and investment and development services to public and private clients. It is also involved in the investment and development of real estate projects. In addition, the company provides construction services, including building construction and energy, and infrastructure and industrial construction. It serves transportation, water, government, facilities, environmental, and energy sectors. The company was formerly known as AECOM Technology Corporation and changed its name to AECOM in January 2015. AECOM was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About Vesuvius

Vesuvius plc is engaged in molten metal flow engineering, principally serving the steel and foundry industries. It develops and manufactures high-technology products and solutions for supply to the steel and casting industries. The Company operates through two segments: Steel and Foundry. The Steel division consists of various product lines, such as Steel Flow Control, Advanced Refractories and Technical Services. Its solution is a fully integrated robotic spray application system with a coupled mixing and laser setting system for the accurate location of the tundish furniture and mix preparation. The automatic robotic mixing and application system is fully contained and shielded with automatic shutdown if someone enters the working zone inside the tundish stand. Its technology allows robots to handle various tasks, such as manipulating steel samplers and temperature or hydrogen sensors, and to distribute powder into the tundish.