Northwest Pipe (NWPX) Competitors

Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) and Argan (NYSE:AGX) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend NWPX or AGX?

Northwest Pipe currently has a consensus target price of $55.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.38%. Argan has a consensus target price of $150.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.94%. Given Northwest Pipe's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Northwest Pipe is more favorable than Argan.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northwest Pipe	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Argan	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NWPX or AGX?

Argan received 33 more outperform votes than Northwest Pipe when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.00% of users gave Argan an outperform vote while only 57.17% of users gave Northwest Pipe an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Northwest Pipe	Outperform Votes 283 57.17%	Underperform Votes 212 42.83%
Argan	Outperform Votes 316 69.00%	Underperform Votes 142 31.00%

Does the media prefer NWPX or AGX?

In the previous week, Argan had 4 more articles in the media than Northwest Pipe. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Argan and 6 mentions for Northwest Pipe. Argan's average media sentiment score of 0.91 beat Northwest Pipe's score of 0.69 indicating that Argan is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Northwest Pipe	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Argan	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, NWPX or AGX?

Northwest Pipe has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Argan has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, NWPX or AGX?

Argan has higher revenue and earnings than Northwest Pipe. Northwest Pipe is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Argan, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northwest Pipe	$492.55M	0.88	$21.07M	$3.40	12.80
Argan	$806.26M	2.14	$32.36M	$4.78	26.61

Is NWPX or AGX more profitable?

Argan has a net margin of 8.20% compared to Northwest Pipe's net margin of 6.12%. Argan's return on equity of 21.66% beat Northwest Pipe's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northwest Pipe	6.12%	8.47%	4.79%
Argan	8.20%	21.66%	9.73%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in NWPX or AGX?

80.6% of Northwest Pipe shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.4% of Argan shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Northwest Pipe shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of Argan shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Argan beats Northwest Pipe on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.