Contrasting Knife River (NYSE:KNF) and Janus International Group (NYSE:JBI)

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) and Janus International Group (NYSE:JBI) are both construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, valuation and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Knife River and Janus International Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Knife River	$3.20 billion	1.39	$157.07 million	$2.57	30.63
Janus International Group	$884.20 million	0.83	$53.80 million	$0.31	17.02

Knife River has higher revenue and earnings than Janus International Group. Janus International Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Knife River, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Knife River and Janus International Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Knife River	1	2	6	1	2.70
Janus International Group	1	3	1	0	2.00

Knife River currently has a consensus target price of $97.14, indicating a potential upside of 23.42%. Janus International Group has a consensus target price of $8.33, indicating a potential upside of 57.98%. Given Janus International Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Janus International Group is more favorable than Knife River.

Profitability

This table compares Knife River and Janus International Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Knife River	4.58%	9.35%	3.96%
Janus International Group	4.82%	12.18%	5.22%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.1% of Knife River shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.8% of Janus International Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Knife River shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Janus International Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Knife River has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Janus International Group has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Knife River beats Janus International Group on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides aggregates- led construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, Central, and Energy Services segments. The company mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete. It also provides contracting service, such as heavy-civil construction, asphalt and concrete paving, and site development and grading. In addition, the company sells cement, merchandise, and other building materials and related services. The company sells its construction materials to public and private-sector customers, including federal, state, and municipal governments, as well as industrial, commercial and residential developers, and other private parties; and provides its contracting services to public-sector customers for the development and servicing of highways, local roads, bridges, and other public-infrastructure projects. Knife River Corporation was founded in 1917 and is based in Bismarck, North Dakota.

About Janus International Group

Janus International Group, Inc. manufacturers and supplies turn-key self-storage, and commercial and industrial building solutions in North America and internationally. The company offers roll up and swing doors, hallway systems, relocatable storage moveable additional storage structures units, and other solutions. It also provides facility and door automation and access control technologies; and Noke smart entry system. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Temple, Georgia.