Financial Contrast: Babcock (BW) vs. The Competition

Babcock (NYSE:BW) is one of 219 public companies in the “Electrical Equipment” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Babcock to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Babcock has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Babcock’s peers have a beta of -19.51, meaning that their average share price is 2,051% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Babcock and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Babcock	1	2	3	0	2.33
Babcock Competitors	2200	5217	7252	419	2.39

Babcock currently has a consensus target price of $14.25, suggesting a potential upside of 49.91%. As a group, “Electrical Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 18.67%. Given Babcock’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Babcock is more favorable than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Babcock and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Babcock	-13.63%	N/A	-1.41%
Babcock Competitors	-222.45%	-206.19%	-8.21%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.2% of Babcock shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.0% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Babcock shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Babcock and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Babcock	$587.70 million	-$36.16 million	-10.80
Babcock Competitors	$2.32 billion	$131.25 million	28.40

Babcock’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Babcock. Babcock is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Babcock beats its peers on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Babcock

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. engages in the provision of fossil and renewable power generation and environmental equipment. It operates through the following segments: B&W Renewable, B&W Environmental, and B&W Thermal. The B&W Renewable segment supports a circular economy, diverting waste from landfills to use for power generation and replacing fossil fuels, while recovering metals and reducing emissions. The B&W Environmental segment focuses on systems for cooling, ash handling, particulate control, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides removal, chemical looping for carbon control, and mercury control. The B&W Thermal segment offers steam generation equipment, aftermarket parts, construction, maintenance, and field services for plants in the power generation, oil and gas, and industrial sectors. The company was founded by George H. Babcock, Stephen Wilcox, Jr., and Joseph P. Manton in 1856 and is headquartered in Akron, OH.