ACA vs KNF vs ROAD Stock Comparison

Arcosa, Knife River and Construction Partners Prices as of Oct 22, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ACA Arcosa, Inc.
$149.18 +1.7% 1M +61.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.33B
P/E
14.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.74B
Div. yield
0.13%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
7 wins
KNF Knife River Corp
$52.89 -3.1% 1M -15.8% 1Y
Market cap
$3.11B
P/E
22.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.31B
Div. yield
–
Aggregates Basic Materials
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Arcosa leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Arcosa 7, Construction Partners 3, Knife River 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACAKNFROADLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.33B $3.11B $4.70B ACA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 14.9x 22.2x 33.0x ACA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 33.6x 19.8x 26.4x KNF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +12.1% +41.9% ROAD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.9% 4.2% 4.1% ACA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.5% 6.5% 8.1% ROAD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 3.1x 3.6x ACA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.13% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +61.6% -15.8% -30.1% ACA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +23.0%/yr — +19.2%/yr ACA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.7% 51.1% 51.5% ACA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 30/100 63/100 ROAD

Percentile Scorecard

ACAKNFROAD

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACAKNFROAD
Valuation 49 #105 of 203 78 #3 of 10 69 #17 of 52
Growth 82 #34 of 187 – 97 #2 of 37
Profitability 51 #91 of 185 0 #8 of 8 69 #12 of 37
Financial Health 58 #92 of 219 13 #8 of 9 21 #45 of 57
Shareholder Returns 41 #90 of 153 – 58 #12 of 27
Overall 56 30 63
  • ACA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • KNF ranked among 10 companies in Construction Materials
  • ROAD ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACAKNFROADSPY
1 month +1.7%-3.1%-12.0% -0.8%
3 months +2.9%-32.6%-21.5% +3.5%
6 months +24.1%-40.5%-31.7% +7.0%
Year to date +40.3%-24.8%-24.0% +12.2%
1 year +61.6%-15.8%-30.1% +13.0%
3 years +117.4%+10.2%+121.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +29.6%+3.3%+30.3% +23.1%
5 years +181.9%—+140.7% +68.6%
5 years, per year +23.0%—+19.2% +11.0%

Risk

MeasureACAKNFROADSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.7%51.1%51.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.9%51.4%47.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.951.301.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.94-0.31-0.58 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -36.7%-55.3%-54.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-43.7%-41.3% -1.8%
52-week high $149.18$93.97$140.48 $779.14
52-week low $92.25$47.97$80.84 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACAKNFROAD
P/E now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 26.0x 21.5xmedian 19.6x 32.4xmedian 25.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 1.9x 0.9xmedian 1.8x 1.1xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 14.0x 9.2xmedian 9.3x 11.9xmedian 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 54.9xmedian 21.4x 69.7xmedian 31.4x 22.5xmedian 22.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 2.2x 1.9xmedian 2.3x 3.8xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.75median 1.26 14.46median 2.78 0.52median 0.56

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACAKNFROAD
Revenue $2.74B $3.31B $3.48B
Gross profit $632.30M $589.67M $548.10M
Operating income $322.70M $275.33M $297.95M
Net income $491.40M $139.89M $142.51M
Free cash flow $133.40M $43.06M $175.56M
EPS (diluted) $9.99 $2.46 $2.53
Cash & equivalents $432.10M $102.03M $94.55M
Total debt $1.44B $1.62B $1.79B
Shares (diluted) 49.20M 56.88M 56.27M
Enterprise value $6.31B $2.73B $4.27B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACAKNFROAD
P/E 14.9x 21.5x 32.4x
P/FCF 54.9x 69.7x 22.5x
P/Operating cash flow 21.5x 9.6x 11.2x
P/S 2.7x 0.9x 1.1x
P/B 2.5x 1.9x 3.8x
P/Tangible book 2.7x 1.9x 4.1x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 9.2x 11.9x
EV/EBIT 25.8x 16.4x 18.9x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 1.4x 1.6x
EV/FCF 62.4x 104.9x 32.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x 14.4x 16.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.75 14.46 0.52

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACAKNFROAD
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 12.1% 41.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.0% 8.3% 32.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 20.7% 10.3% 50.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.2% 12.6% 47.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 61.3% 6.5% 75.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -5.6% 6.6% 73.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 433.0% -8.7% 91.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 20.2% 1.7% 65.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 430.8% -8.7% 89.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% 1.5% 61.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -23.1% 28.0% 28.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.1% 3.2% 43.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -54.9% 181.0% 14.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 54.7% -29.0% 91.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACAKNFROAD
Gross margin 23.0% 17.8% 15.8%
EBITDA margin 19.9% 14.9% 13.7%
Operating margin 11.8% 8.3% 8.6%
Pretax margin 8.4% 5.8% 5.4%
Net margin 17.9% 4.2% 4.1%
FCF margin 4.9% 1.3% 5.0%
Operating cash flow margin 12.4% 9.5% 10.1%
Return on equity 17.4% 8.8% 14.1%
Return on assets 9.5% 3.5% 4.0%
Return on invested capital 6.5% 6.5% 8.1%
Return on capital employed 6.9% 7.8% 10.2%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.7x 2.2x 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 0.3% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACAKNFROAD
Debt / assets 27.1% 38.7% 49.5%
Debt / equity 0.5x 1.0x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 3.1x 3.6x
Debt / FCF 10.8x 37.6x 10.2x
Liabilities / assets 43.7% 61.6% 71.2%
Equity / assets 56.3% 38.4% 28.8%
Interest coverage 3.3x 3.1x 2.7x
Current ratio 3.1x 2.7x 1.6x
Quick ratio 2.2x 1.5x 0.2x
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 3.18 2.27 2.47

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACAKNFROAD
Dividend yield 0.1% – –
Net buyback yield 0.2% – 0.8%
Shareholder yield 0.4% – 0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 2.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 7.4% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.0% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.0% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACAKNFROAD
Forward P/E 33.6xFY2026 19.8xFY2026 26.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.44FY2026 $2.67FY2026 $3.12FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -0.7%FY2026 -3.3%FY2026 +41.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.0% +10.5% +17.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.45BFY2026 $3.66BFY2026 $3.58BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -14.9%FY2026 +16.2%FY2026 +27.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.5% +3.1% +10.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACAKNFROAD
Held by institutions 91.8% 96.7% 87.7%
Institutions holding 426 391 360
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +1.0% +2.3%
Institutions buying 230 168 190
Institutions selling 114 137 111
Buyers to sellers 2.02 1.23 1.71

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACAKNFROAD
ACA 1.00 0.30 0.37
KNF 0.30 1.00 0.49
ROAD 0.37 0.49 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACA, KNF and ROAD?

Arcosa (ACA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Arcosa (ACA) $7.33B, Knife River (KNF) $3.11B, Construction Partners (ROAD) $4.70B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACA, KNF and ROAD?

Arcosa (ACA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Arcosa (ACA) 14.9x, Knife River (KNF) 22.2x, Construction Partners (ROAD) 33.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Knife River (KNF) is cheapest (Arcosa (ACA) 33.6x, Knife River (KNF) 19.8x, Construction Partners (ROAD) 26.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Construction Partners (ROAD) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Arcosa (ACA) +9.7%, Knife River (KNF) +12.1%, Construction Partners (ROAD) +41.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Arcosa (ACA) has the highest net margin (Arcosa (ACA) 17.9%, Knife River (KNF) 4.2%, Construction Partners (ROAD) 4.1%). On return on invested capital, Construction Partners (ROAD) leads (Arcosa (ACA) 6.5%, Knife River (KNF) 6.5%, Construction Partners (ROAD) 8.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Arcosa (ACA) returned the most: Arcosa (ACA) +61.6%, Knife River (KNF) -15.8%, Construction Partners (ROAD) -30.1%. Over five years, Arcosa (ACA) compounded fastest (Arcosa (ACA) +23.0%/yr, Construction Partners (ROAD) +19.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Arcosa (ACA) 0.13%, Knife River (KNF) 0.00%, Construction Partners (ROAD) 0.00%. Knife River (KNF) and Construction Partners (ROAD) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Arcosa (ACA) has been the steadiest (Arcosa (ACA) 31.7%, Knife River (KNF) 51.1%, Construction Partners (ROAD) 51.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACA, KNF and ROAD?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Arcosa (ACA) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.