Critical Survey: Primoris Services (NYSE:PRIM) & China Railway Group (OTCMKTS:CRWOY)

China Railway Group (OTCMKTS:CRWOY) and Primoris Services (NYSE:PRIM) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares China Railway Group and Primoris Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
China Railway Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Primoris Services	1.92%	9.96%	3.67%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for China Railway Group and Primoris Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
China Railway Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Primoris Services	1	5	11	0	2.59

Primoris Services has a consensus target price of $132.27, indicating a potential upside of 71.40%. Given Primoris Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Primoris Services is more favorable than China Railway Group.

Volatility and Risk

China Railway Group has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Primoris Services has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

China Railway Group pays an annual dividend of $0.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Primoris Services pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Primoris Services pays out 12.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Primoris Services has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.8% of Primoris Services shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Primoris Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares China Railway Group and Primoris Services”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
China Railway Group	$123.12 billion	0.09	$3.43 billion	N/A	N/A
Primoris Services	$7.57 billion	0.55	$274.90 million	$2.55	30.26

China Railway Group has higher revenue and earnings than Primoris Services.

Summary

Primoris Services beats China Railway Group on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About China Railway Group

China Railway Group Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated construction company in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Its Infrastructure Construction segment constructs railways, highways, bridges, tunnels, metropolitan railways, buildings, irrigation works, hydroelectricity projects, ports, docks, airports, and other municipal works. The company's Survey, Design and Consulting Services segment provides survey, design, consulting, research and development, feasibility study, and compliance certification services to infrastructure construction projects. Its Engineering Equipment and Component Manufacturing segment designs, researches and develops, manufactures, and sells turnouts, bridge steel structures, and other railway related equipment, engineering machinery, and materials. The company's Property Development segment develops, sells, and manages residential and commercial properties. Its Other Businesses segment is involved in mining, financial, service concession arrangements operation, merchandise trading, and other ancillary businesses. China Railway Group Limited was founded in 1950 and is based in Beijing, China.

About Primoris Services

Primoris Services Corporation, a specialty contractor company, provides a range of construction, fabrication, maintenance, replacement, and engineering services in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: Utilities, Energy/Renewables, and Pipeline Services. The Utilities segment offers installation and maintenance services for new and existing natural gas distribution systems, electric utility distribution and transmission systems, and communications systems. The Energy/Renewables segment provides a range of services, including engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as retrofits, highway and bridge construction, demolition, site work, soil stabilization, mass excavation, flood control, upgrades, repairs, outages, and maintenance services to renewable energy and energy storage, renewable fuels, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries, as well as state departments of transportation. The Pipeline Services segment offers a range of services comprising pipeline construction, maintenance, facility, and integrity services; installation of compressor and pump stations; and metering facilities for entities in the petroleum and petrochemical industries, as well as gas, water, and sewer utilities. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.