Financial Analysis: Argan (NYSE:AGX) versus Ming Shing Group (NASDAQ:MSW)

Argan (NYSE:AGX) and Ming Shing Group (NASDAQ:MSW) are both small-cap construction companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Argan and Ming Shing Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Argan	0	2	0	0	2.00
Ming Shing Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Argan presently has a consensus target price of $150.00, indicating a potential upside of 24.16%. Given Argan’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Argan is more favorable than Ming Shing Group.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Argan and Ming Shing Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Argan	$806.26 million	2.03	$32.36 million	$4.78	25.27
Ming Shing Group	$27.57 million	2.43	N/A	N/A	N/A

Argan has higher revenue and earnings than Ming Shing Group.

Profitability

This table compares Argan and Ming Shing Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Argan	8.20%	21.66%	9.73%
Ming Shing Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.4% of Argan shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of Argan shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.7% of Ming Shing Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Argan pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ming Shing Group pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.9%. Argan pays out 31.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Argan beats Ming Shing Group on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Argan

Argan, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity. This segment serves independent power project owners, public utilities, power plant equipment suppliers, and other commercial firms. The Industrial Services segment provides industrial construction and field services and vessel fabrication services for fertilizer, engineering and construction, forest products, and various other industrial companies in southeast region of the United States. The Telecom Services segment offers trenchless directional boring and excavation for underground communication and power networks, as well as aerial cabling services; and installs buried cable, high and low voltage electric lines, and private area outdoor lighting systems. It also provides structured cabling, terminations, and connectivity that offers the physical transport for high-speed data, voice, video, and security networks. This segment serves electricity cooperative, state and local government agencies, counties and municipalities, and technology-oriented government contracting firms, as well as federal government facilities in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Argan, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

About Ming Shing Group

Ming Shing Group Holdings Limited is a company mainly engaged in wet trades works, such as plastering works, tile laying works, brick laying works, floor screeding works and marble works. Ming Shing Group Holdings Limited is based in Hong Kong.