Construction Partners (NASDAQ:ROAD) versus Energy Services of America (NASDAQ:ESOA) Financial Comparison

Energy Services of America (NASDAQ:ESOA) and Construction Partners (NASDAQ:ROAD) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Energy Services of America and Construction Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Energy Services of America	0	1	1	0	2.50
Construction Partners	0	3	4	1	2.75

Energy Services of America presently has a consensus price target of $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 119.68%. Construction Partners has a consensus price target of $133.50, indicating a potential upside of 33.94%. Given Energy Services of America’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Energy Services of America is more favorable than Construction Partners.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.1% of Energy Services of America shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Construction Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.7% of Energy Services of America shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.7% of Construction Partners shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Energy Services of America and Construction Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Energy Services of America	N/A	N/A	N/A
Construction Partners	4.10%	16.06%	4.59%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Energy Services of America and Construction Partners”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Energy Services of America	$467.37 million	N/A	N/A	$0.18	62.19
Construction Partners	$2.81 billion	2.01	$101.78 million	$2.55	39.09

Construction Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Energy Services of America. Construction Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Energy Services of America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Construction Partners beats Energy Services of America on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Energy Services of America

Energy Services of America Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides contracting services for utilities and energy related companies in the United States. The company constructs, replaces, and repairs interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines and storage facilities for utility companies and private natural gas companies; and provides services relating to pipeline, storage facilities, and plant works. It also offers electrical and mechanical installation, and repair services, including substation and switchyard, site preparation, equipment setting, pipe fabrication and installation, packaged buildings, transformers, and other ancillary works for the gas, petroleum power, chemical, water and sewer, and automotive industries. In addition, the company provides corrosion protection services, horizontal drilling services, liquid pipeline and pump station construction, production facility construction, water and sewer pipeline installation, and various maintenance and repair services, as well as other services related to pipeline construction. Further, it serves customers primarily in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Energy Services of America Corporation was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Huntington, West Virginia.

About Construction Partners

Construction Partners, Inc., a civil infrastructure company, constructs and maintains roadways in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The company provides various products and services to public and private infrastructure projects, such as highways, roads, bridges, airports, and commercial and residential developments. It also engages in manufacturing and distributing hot mix asphalt (HMA) for internal use and sales to third parties in connection with construction projects; and paving activities, including the construction of roadway base layers and application of asphalt pavement. In addition, the company is involved in site development, including the installation of utility and drainage systems; mining aggregates, such as sand, gravel, and construction stones that are used as raw materials in the production of HMA; and distributing liquid asphalt cement for internal use and sales to third parties in connection with HMA production. The company was formerly known as SunTx CPI Growth Company, Inc. and changed its name to Construction Partners, Inc. in September 2017. Construction Partners, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Dothan, Alabama.