Head to Head Analysis: Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE:MEG) & Pentair (NYSE:PNR)

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) and Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE:MEG) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Pentair and Montrose Environmental Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pentair	15.66%	21.79%	12.14%
Montrose Environmental Group	-0.10%	4.47%	2.06%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pentair and Montrose Environmental Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pentair	$4.18 billion	3.61	$653.80 million	$3.96	23.33
Montrose Environmental Group	$830.54 million	1.15	-$840,000.00	($0.24)	-110.96

Pentair has higher revenue and earnings than Montrose Environmental Group. Montrose Environmental Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pentair, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Pentair has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Montrose Environmental Group has a beta of 1.92, indicating that its share price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Pentair and Montrose Environmental Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pentair	3	3	10	0	2.44
Montrose Environmental Group	1	2	2	0	2.20

Pentair currently has a consensus price target of $114.47, suggesting a potential upside of 23.89%. Montrose Environmental Group has a consensus price target of $34.67, suggesting a potential upside of 30.18%. Given Montrose Environmental Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Montrose Environmental Group is more favorable than Pentair.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.4% of Pentair shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Montrose Environmental Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Pentair shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of Montrose Environmental Group 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.

Summary

Pentair beats Montrose Environmental Group on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pentair

Pentair plc provides various water solutions in the United States, Western Europe, China, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The company operates through three segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool. The Flow segment designs, manufactures, and sells fluid treatment and pump products and systems, including pressure vessels, gas recovery solutions, membrane bioreactors, wastewater reuse systems and advanced membrane filtration, separation systems, water disposal pumps, water supply pumps, fluid transfer pumps, turbine pumps, solid handling pumps, and agricultural spray nozzles for fluid delivery, ion exchange, desalination, food and beverage, separation technologies in the oil and gas industry, residential and municipal wells, water treatment, wastewater solids handling, pressure boosting, circulation and transfer, fire suppression, flood control, agricultural irrigation, and crop spray in residential, commercial, and industrial markets. The Water Solutions segment provides commercial and residential water treatment products and systems, including pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, commercial ice machines, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use water treatment systems, as well as installation and preventative services for use in residential whole home water filtration, drinking water filtration, and water softening solutions, as well as commercial total water management and filtration in foodservice operations. The Pool segment provides residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories comprising pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for applications in residential and commercial pool maintenance, pool repair, renovation, service, and construction and aquaculture solutions. Pentair plc was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Montrose Environmental Group

Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. operates as an environmental services company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Assessment, Permitting and Response; Measurement and Analysis; and Remediation and Reuse. The Assessment, Permitting and Response segment provides scientific advisory and consulting services to support environmental assessments; environmental emergency response and recovery; toxicology consulting and environmental audits and permits for current operations; facility upgrades; new projects; decommissioning projects; and development projects. This segment also offers technical advisory and consulting services, including regulatory compliance support and planning, environmental, ecosystem and toxicological assessments, and support during responses to environmental disruptions. The Measurement and Analysis segment tests and analyzes air, water, and soil to determine concentrations of contaminants, as well as the toxicological impact of contaminants on flora, fauna, and human health. Its services include source and ambient air testing and monitoring, leak detection, and advanced analytical laboratory services, such as storm water, wastewater, and drinking water analysis. The Remediation and Reuse segment provides engineering, design, implementation, and operations and maintenance services primarily to treat contaminated water, remove contaminants from soil, or create biogas from waste. The company serves financial, oil and gas, utilities, construction, automotive, real-estate, midstream energy, manufacturing, commodities, petrochemical, food and beverage, telecommunications, and engineering industries, as well as local, state, provincial, and federal government entities. Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas.