KBR (NYSE:KBR – Get Free Report) and Leidos (NYSE:LDOS – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.
Volatility and Risk
KBR has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Leidos has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings for KBR and Leidos, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| KBR | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2.38 |
| Leidos | 0 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 2.47 |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares KBR and Leidos”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| KBR | $7.79 billion | 0.56 | $415.00 million | $3.32 | 10.42 |
| Leidos | $17.17 billion | 0.85 | $1.45 billion | $10.72 | 10.89 |
Leidos has higher revenue and earnings than KBR. KBR is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Leidos, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
KBR pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Leidos pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. KBR pays out 19.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Leidos pays out 16.0% 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. KBR has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Leidos has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
97.0% of KBR shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.1% of Leidos shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of KBR shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Leidos shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares KBR and Leidos’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| KBR | 5.49% | 32.55% | 7.62% |
| Leidos | 7.80% | 30.81% | 10.78% |
Summary
Leidos beats KBR on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About KBR
KBR, Inc. provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. It operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Its services cover research and development, advanced prototyping, acquisition support, systems engineering, cyber analytics, space domain awareness, test and evaluation, systems integration and program management, global supply chain management, and operations readiness and support, as well as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services. This segment also provides various professional advisory services to the defense, renewable energy, and critical infrastructure sectors. The Sustainable Technology Solutions segment operates portfolio of various proprietary process technologies for ammonia/syngas, chemical/petrochemicals, clean refining, and circular process/circular economy solutions. This segment also provides synergistic services, including advisory and consulting focused on broad-based energy transition and net-zero carbon emission solutions; high-end engineering, design and program management centered around decarbonization, energy efficiency, environmental impact and asset optimization; and digitally-enabled operating and monitoring solutions. KBR, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
About Leidos
Leidos Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S. Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, the space development agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, defense information systems agency, military services, and government agencies of U.S. allies abroad, as well as other federal and commercial customers in the national security industry. The solutions include technology, large-scale systems, command and control platforms, data analytics, logistics, and cybersecurity solutions, as well as intelligence analysis and operations support services to critical missions. The Civil segment provides systems integration services to air navigation service providers, including the federal aviation administration, the En route automation modernization, advanced technology oceanic procedure, time based flow management, terminal flight data management, geo-7, and future flight services, as well as enterprise-information display systems; and security detection services. It also offers information technology (IT) solutions in cloud computing, mobility, application modernization, DevOps, data center, network modernization, asset management, help desk operations, and digital workplace enablement; and environment, energy, and infrastructure services. The Health segment offers solutions to federal and commercial customers responsible for health and well-being of people, include health information management, managed health, digital modernization, and life sciences research and development services. Leidos Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
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