NWPX Infrastructure (NASDAQ:NWPX) versus JELD-WEN (NYSE:JELD) Critical Survey

JELD-WEN (NYSE:JELD) and NWPX Infrastructure (NASDAQ:NWPX) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.0% of JELD-WEN shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.6% of NWPX Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of JELD-WEN shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of NWPX Infrastructure shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for JELD-WEN and NWPX Infrastructure, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
JELD-WEN	1	5	0	0	1.83
NWPX Infrastructure	0	2	2	1	2.80

JELD-WEN currently has a consensus price target of $2.10, suggesting a potential upside of 5.79%. NWPX Infrastructure has a consensus price target of $110.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.47%. Given NWPX Infrastructure’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NWPX Infrastructure is more favorable than JELD-WEN.

Profitability

This table compares JELD-WEN and NWPX Infrastructure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JELD-WEN	-16.36%	-246.42%	-5.69%
NWPX Infrastructure	8.49%	12.22%	7.93%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares JELD-WEN and NWPX Infrastructure”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JELD-WEN	$3.15 billion	0.05	-$621.21 million	($6.04)	-0.33
NWPX Infrastructure	$526.00 million	1.88	$35.41 million	$4.99	20.51

NWPX Infrastructure has lower revenue, but higher earnings than JELD-WEN. JELD-WEN is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NWPX Infrastructure, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

JELD-WEN has a beta of 2.18, meaning that its stock price is 118% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NWPX Infrastructure has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

NWPX Infrastructure beats JELD-WEN on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About JELD-WEN

JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells wood, metal, and composite materials doors, windows, and related building products in North America and Europe. The company offers a line of residential interior and exterior door products, including patio doors, and folding or sliding wall systems; non-residential doors; stile and rail doors; and wood, vinyl, and wood composite windows. It also provides other ancillary products and services, such as trim boards, glasses, hardware and locks, window screens, and molded door skins, as well as miscellaneous installation and other services. The company sells its products under the JELD-WEN, AuraLast, MiraTEC, Extira, LaCANTINA, MMI Door, Karona, ImpactGard, JW, Aurora, IWP, True BLU, ABS, Siteline, National Door, Low-Friction Glider, Hydrolock, VPI, AURALINE, FINISHIELD, MILLENNIUM, TRUFIT, EPICVUE, EVELIN, Swedoor, Dooria, DANA, Mattiovi, Zargag, Alupan, Domoferm, Kellpax, and HSE brands. It serves wholesale distributors and retailers, retail home centers, and building product dealers, as well as homebuilders, contractors, and consumers. JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About NWPX Infrastructure

Northwest Pipe Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of water-related infrastructure products in North America. It operates in two segments, Engineered Steel Pressure Pipe (SPP) and Precast Infrastructure and Engineered Systems (Precast). The SPP segment offers large-diameter and high-pressure steel pipeline systems for use in water infrastructure applications, which are primarily related to drinking water systems. Its products are also used for hydroelectric power systems, wastewater systems, seismic resiliency, and other applications. In addition, this segment makes products for industrial plant piping systems and certain structural applications. The Precast segment provides stormwater and wastewater technology products, precast, and reinforced concrete products, including reinforced concrete pipe, manholes, box culverts, vaults and catch basins, pump lift stations, oil water separators, biofiltration units, steel casing pipes, and bar-wrapped concrete cylinder pipes, as well as pipeline system joints, fittings, specialized components, and other environmental and engineered solutions. The company sells its water infrastructure products under ParkUSA, Geneva Pipe and Precast, Permalok, and Northwest Pipe Company brands primarily to installation contractors. Northwest Pipe Company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington.