AGX vs J vs STN Stock Comparison

Argan, Jacobs Solutions and Stantec Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AGX Argan Inc
$340.91 -6.6% 1M +15.6% 1Y
Market cap
$4.78B
P/E
26.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.19B
Div. yield
0.65%
Engineering and Construction Industrials
5 wins
J Jacobs Solutions Inc.
$148.28 +7.2% 1M -7.9% 1Y
Market cap
$17.37B
P/E
51.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.22B
Div. yield
0.94%
Engineering and Construction Industrials
1 win
STN Stantec Inc
$70.73 +2.5% 1M -37.0% 1Y
Market cap
$8.07B
P/E
12.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.51B
Div. yield
1.34%
Engineering and Construction Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Stantec leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Stantec 6, Argan 5, Jacobs Solutions 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAGXJSTNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.78B $17.37B $8.07B J
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.7x 51.6x 12.4x STN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.3x 21.9x 15.3x STN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +29.0% +20.1% +9.4% AGX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.1% 2.4% 6.2% AGX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 5.8% 37.8% STN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.7x 0.0x STN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.65% 0.94% 1.34% STN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +15.6% -7.9% -37.0% AGX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +52.1%/yr +5.2%/yr +4.8%/yr AGX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 74.9% 33.0% 30.3% STN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 73/100 45/100 73/100 AGX

Percentile Scorecard

AGXJSTN

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

AxisAGXJSTN
Valuation 63 #20 of 52 37 #33 of 52 92 #5 of 52
Growth 100 #1 of 37 31 #26 of 37 36 #24 of 37
Profitability 100 #1 of 37 53 #18 of 37 89 #5 of 37
Financial Health 64 #21 of 57 45 #32 of 57 79 #13 of 57
Shareholder Returns 39 #17 of 27 62 #11 of 27 69 #9 of 27
Overall 73 45 73
  • AGX ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • J ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • STN ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAGXJSTNSPY
1 month -6.6%+7.2%+2.5% -0.2%
3 months -34.9%+5.4%-1.6% +3.9%
6 months -45.9%+17.3%-21.3% +8.2%
Year to date +8.8%+11.9%-25.0% +12.9%
1 year +15.6%-7.9%-37.0% +12.3%
3 years +664.5%+36.7%+18.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year +97.1%+11.0%+5.7% +23.3%
5 years +712.7%+28.7%+26.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year +52.1%+5.2%+4.8% +10.9%
10 years +518.2%+253.7%+216.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +20.0%+13.5%+12.2% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAGXJSTNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 74.9%33.0%30.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 68.1%36.0%34.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.720.770.76 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.21-0.24-1.22 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.8%-34.8%-41.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -57.3%-7.9%-37.8% -1.2%
52-week high $798.55$161.00$113.70 $779.14
52-week low $292.22$107.27$66.69 $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.

MultipleAGXJSTN
P/E now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 26.7x 51.6xmedian 26.7x 12.4xmedian 26.7x
P/S now vs peer median 4.0xmedian 0.8x 1.2xmedian 0.8x 0.8xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.9xmedian 13.1x 22.4xmedian 13.1x 5.1xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 8.8xmedian 23.0x 26.9xmedian 23.0x 15.3xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 9.4xmedian 2.4x 5.3xmedian 2.4x 3.4xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.39median 0.57 -2.43median 0.57 0.60median 0.57

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 monthsAGXJSTN
Revenue $1.19B $14.22B $10.51B
Gross profit $247.88M $3.14B $4.58B
Operating income $182.50M $649.64M $1.23B
Net income $179.31M $301.35M $536.90M
Free cash flow $545.70M $644.54M $528.58M
EPS (diluted) $12.66 $2.85 $5.72
Cash & equivalents $364.48M $1.17B $265.54M
Total debt – $3.58B $2.38B
Shares (diluted) 14.16M 118.90M 114.07M
Enterprise value $2.79B $12.02B $7.00B

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
MetricAGXJSTN
P/E 26.7x 51.6x 12.4x
P/FCF 8.8x 26.9x 15.3x
P/Operating cash flow 8.6x 23.6x 17.3x
P/S 4.0x 1.2x 0.8x
P/B 9.4x 5.3x 3.4x
P/Tangible book 9.6x 6.5x 4.0x
EV/EBITDA 22.9x 22.4x 5.1x
EV/EBIT 23.2x 30.4x 6.5x
EV/Revenue 3.6x 1.4x 0.8x
EV/FCF 7.8x 30.7x 15.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.6x 26.9x 17.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.39 -2.43 0.60

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAGXJSTN
Revenue growth (1Y) 29.0% 20.1% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 35.1% 28.1% 10.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 43.2% 6.3% 10.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 45.7% 5.8% 11.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 55.5% -23.4% 20.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 71.8% 14.0% 16.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 53.0% -40.0% 24.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 67.9% -26.5% 15.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 52.6% -30.4% 24.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 67.8% -21.3% 20.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 279.5% 47.1% -13.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 108.5% -10.7% 15.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 289.0% 56.4% -10.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 111.7% -10.1% 24.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAGXJSTN
Gross margin 20.9% 22.1% 43.6%
EBITDA margin 15.5% 6.2% 14.9%
Operating margin 15.4% 4.6% 11.7%
Pretax margin 18.2% 3.6% 11.3%
Net margin 15.1% 2.4% 6.2%
FCF margin 45.9% 4.5% 5.0%
Operating cash flow margin 46.7% 5.2% 4.4%
Return on equity 36.6% 9.2% 36.3%
Return on assets 13.3% 2.5% 15.1%
Return on invested capital – 5.8% 37.8%
Return on capital employed 39.2% 8.2% 28.3%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.2x 1.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.1x 2.4x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.5% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAGXJSTN
Debt / assets – 30.5% 3.9%
Debt / equity – 1.1x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.7x 0.0x
Debt / FCF – 5.6x 0.4x
Liabilities / assets 63.8% 72.2% 58.6%
Equity / assets 36.2% 27.8% 41.4%
Interest coverage – 3.9x 9.6x
Current ratio 1.5x 1.3x 1.5x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.6x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.36 2.85 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAGXJSTN
Dividend yield 0.6% 0.9% 1.3%
Net buyback yield 0.3% 3.9% –
Shareholder yield 0.9% 4.9% 1.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 15.6% 53.6% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 5.1% 25.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 37.2% 6.9% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 27.7% 8.9% –

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.

ConsensusAGXJSTN
Forward P/E 24.3xFY2026 21.9xFY2026 15.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $14.02FY2026 $6.78FY2026 $4.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +43.9%FY2026 +10.8%FY2026 +19.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.8% +27.6% +2.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.36BFY2026 $9.78BFY2026 $4.75BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.6%FY2026 -18.7%FY2026 +0.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.0% -0.5% +7.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAGXJSTN
Held by institutions 99.2% 92.2% 62.0%
Institutions holding 559 871 293
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.8% +3.0% +2.8%
Institutions buying 315 375 162
Institutions selling 185 360 87
Buyers to sellers 1.70 1.04 1.86

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.

AGXJSTN
AGX 1.00 -0.08 0.00
J -0.08 1.00 0.51
STN 0.00 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AGX, J and STN?

Jacobs Solutions (J) is the largest by market capitalisation: Argan (AGX) $4.78B, Jacobs Solutions (J) $17.37B, Stantec (STN) $8.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, AGX, J and STN?

Stantec (STN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Argan (AGX) 26.7x, Jacobs Solutions (J) 51.6x, Stantec (STN) 12.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Stantec (STN) is cheapest (Argan (AGX) 24.3x, Jacobs Solutions (J) 21.9x, Stantec (STN) 15.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Argan (AGX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Argan (AGX) +29.0%, Jacobs Solutions (J) +20.1%, Stantec (STN) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Argan (AGX) has the highest net margin (Argan (AGX) 15.1%, Jacobs Solutions (J) 2.4%, Stantec (STN) 6.2%). On return on invested capital, Stantec (STN) leads (Jacobs Solutions (J) 5.8%, Stantec (STN) 37.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Argan (AGX) returned the most: Argan (AGX) +15.6%, Jacobs Solutions (J) -7.9%, Stantec (STN) -37.0%. Over five years, Argan (AGX) compounded fastest (Argan (AGX) +52.1%/yr, Jacobs Solutions (J) +5.2%/yr, Stantec (STN) +4.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Stantec (STN) has the highest dividend yield: Argan (AGX) 0.65%, Jacobs Solutions (J) 0.94%, Stantec (STN) 1.34%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Stantec (STN) has been the steadiest (Argan (AGX) 74.9%, Jacobs Solutions (J) 33.0%, Stantec (STN) 30.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AGX, J and STN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Stantec (STN) leads on 6. 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.