Analyzing Energy Services of America (NASDAQ:ESOA) & China Railway Group (OTCMKTS:CRWOF)

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

Dividends

Energy Services of America pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. China Railway Group pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.4%. Energy Services of America pays out 65.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. China Railway Group pays out 13.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. China Railway Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Energy Services of America and China Railway Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Energy Services of America	0	1	1	0	2.50
China Railway Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Energy Services of America presently has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 107.72%. Given Energy Services of America’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Energy Services of America is more favorable than China Railway Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

2.1% of Energy Services of America shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.8% of China Railway Group shares are held by institutional investors. 44.7% of Energy Services of America shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Energy Services of America and China Railway Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Energy Services of America	$385.59 million	N/A	N/A	$0.18	55.25
China Railway Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.48	1.03

China Railway Group 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.

Profitability

This table compares Energy Services of America and China Railway Group’s 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
China Railway Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Energy Services of America beats China Railway Group on 6 of the 10 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 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, other railway-related equipment, engineering equipment, component manufacturing, 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, and operation service concession arrangements operation, merchandise trading, and other ancillary businesses. China Railway Group Limited was founded in 1950 and is based in Beijing, China.