Orion Group (NYSE:ORN) and Cardinal Infrastructure Group (NASDAQ:CDNL) Critical Survey

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

Profitability

This table compares Orion Group and Cardinal Infrastructure Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orion Group	0.62%	3.59%	1.23%
Cardinal Infrastructure Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.3% of Orion Group shares are held by institutional investors. 5.7% of Orion Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 61.7% of Cardinal Infrastructure Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Orion Group and Cardinal Infrastructure Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orion Group	$852.26 million	0.34	$2.49 million	$0.15	48.04
Cardinal Infrastructure Group	$662.58 million	1.04	$22.69 million	$0.55	26.47

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Orion Group and Cardinal Infrastructure Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orion Group	1	1	5	0	2.57
Cardinal Infrastructure Group	2	0	4	0	2.33

Orion Group presently has a consensus target price of $14.75, suggesting a potential upside of 104.69%. Cardinal Infrastructure Group has a consensus target price of $46.75, suggesting a potential upside of 221.09%. Given Cardinal Infrastructure Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cardinal Infrastructure Group is more favorable than Orion Group.

Summary

Orion Group beats Cardinal Infrastructure Group on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Orion Group

Orion Group Holdings, Inc., a leading specialty construction company serving the infrastructure, industrial and building sectors, provides services both on and off the water in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and the Caribbean Basin through its marine segment and its concrete segment. The Company’s marine segment provides construction and dredging services related to marine transportation facility construction, marine pipeline construction, marine environmental structures, dredging of waterways, channels and ports, environmental dredging, design, and specialty services. Its concrete segment provides turnkey concrete construction services including place and finish, site prep, layout, forming, and rebar placement for large commercial, structural and other associated business areas. The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas with regional offices throughout its operating areas.

About Cardinal Infrastructure Group

Cardinal Infrastructure Group is a vertically integrated civil infrastructure and site development platform serving residential, commercial, industrial and municipal projects.

CDNL delivers its suite of comprehensive infrastructure services that support the planning, preparation, installation, and development of residential, commercial, industrial, municipal, and state infrastructure projects through wholly owned, market leading subsidiaries. Cardinal’s operations leverage in-house, highly skilled teams and equipment fleets to deliver wet utility installations (water, sewer, and stormwater systems), as well as grading, site clearing, erosion control, drilling and blasting, paving, and other related site services.