Critical Review: Jiangsu Expressway (OTCMKTS:JEXYY) vs. Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA)

Jiangsu Expressway (OTCMKTS:JEXYY) and Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) are both construction companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, profitability and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Jiangsu Expressway has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Granite Construction has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Jiangsu Expressway and Granite Construction, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jiangsu Expressway	0	0	0	0	0.00
Granite Construction	1	0	0	0	1.00

Granite Construction has a consensus price target of $76.00, indicating a potential downside of 14.32%. Given Granite Construction’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Granite Construction is more favorable than Jiangsu Expressway.

Profitability

This table compares Jiangsu Expressway and Granite Construction’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jiangsu Expressway	N/A	N/A	N/A
Granite Construction	3.07%	21.40%	7.48%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Jiangsu Expressway and Granite Construction”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jiangsu Expressway	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Granite Construction	$4.01 billion	0.97	$126.35 million	$2.40	36.96

Granite Construction has higher revenue and earnings than Jiangsu Expressway.

Dividends

Jiangsu Expressway pays an annual dividend of $1.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Granite Construction pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Granite Construction pays out 21.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Granite Construction beats Jiangsu Expressway on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jiangsu Expressway

Jiangsu Expressway Company Limited engages in investment, construction, operation, and management of toll roads and bridges in the People's Republic of China. The company operates the Jiangsu section of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, Ningchang Expressway, Zhenli Expressway, Guangjing Expressway, Xicheng Expressway, Xiyi Expressway, Zhendan Expressway, Yanjiang Expressway, Jiangyin Bridge, Sujiahang Expressway, Changyi Expressway, Yichang Expressway, and Wufengshan Bridge. As of December 31, 2022, it operated 17 road and bridge projects; and owned approximately 910 kilometers of roads and bridges. The company also offers passenger transportation; and ancillary services, including refueling, catering, shopping, automobile maintenance, advertising and accommodation, etc. In addition, it engages in the real estate development; and sale of electricity and petroleum products. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Nanjing, China. Jiangsu Expressway Company Limited is a subsidiary of JiangSu Communications Holding Co., Ltd.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects. The Materials segment is involved in the production of aggregates, asphalt concrete, liquid asphalt, and recycled materials production for internal use in our construction projects and sale to third parties. It also offers site preparation, mining, and infrastructure services for residential development, energy development, commercial and industrial sites, railways, residential development, and energy development; and provides construction management professional services. It serves federal agencies, state departments of transportation, local transit authorities, county and city public works departments, school districts and developers, utilities, contractors, landscapers, manufacturers of products requiring aggregate materials, retailers, homeowners, farmers, brokers, and private owners of industrial, commercial, and residential sites. Granite Construction Incorporated was incorporated in 1922 and is headquartered in Watsonville, California.