Contrasting Knife River (NYSE:KNF) and Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU)

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

Profitability

This table compares Knife River and Energy Fuels’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Knife River	6.89%	15.22%	7.46%
Energy Fuels	-90.40%	-9.16%	-8.67%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.1% of Knife River shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.2% of Energy Fuels shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Knife River shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Energy Fuels shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Knife River has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energy Fuels has a beta of 1.6, meaning that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Knife River and Energy Fuels”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Knife River	$2.89 billion	2.01	$182.87 million	$3.49	29.41
Energy Fuels	$37.93 million	35.74	$99.86 million	($0.22)	-31.73

Knife River has higher revenue and earnings than Energy Fuels. Energy Fuels 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 Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Knife River and Energy Fuels, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Knife River	0	1	6	0	2.86
Energy Fuels	0	2	2	0	2.50

Knife River currently has a consensus target price of $93.67, suggesting a potential downside of 8.75%. Energy Fuels has a consensus target price of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 21.78%. Given Energy Fuels’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Energy Fuels is more favorable than Knife River.

Summary

Knife River beats Energy Fuels on 10 of the 14 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 Energy Fuels

Energy Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction, recovery, recycling, exploration, permitting, evaluation, and sale of uranium mineral properties in the United States. The company produces and sells vanadium pentoxide, rare earth elements, and heavy mineral sands, such as ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and monazite. The company was formerly known as Volcanic Metals Exploration Inc. and changed its name to Energy Fuels Inc. in May 2006. Energy Fuels Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.