AGX vs STN vs EME Stock Comparison

Argan, Stantec and Emcor Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AGX Argan Inc
$329.22 -9.8% 1M +11.0% 1Y
Market cap
$4.79B
P/E
26.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.19B
Div. yield
0.01%
Engineering and Construction Industrials
6 wins
STN Stantec Inc
$71.00 +2.9% 1M -36.7% 1Y
Market cap
$8.06B
P/E
12.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.51B
Div. yield
–
Engineering and Construction Industrials
3 wins
EME EMCOR Group, Inc.
$665.73 -12.7% 1M -11.0% 1Y
Market cap
$29.67B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.60B
Div. yield
0.00%
Engineering and Construction Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Argan leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Argan 6, Stantec 3, Emcor 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAGXSTNEMELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.79B $8.06B $29.67B EME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.7x 12.4x 20.6x STN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.5x 15.4x 19.2x STN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +29.0% +9.4% +18.9% AGX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.1% 6.2% 7.7% AGX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 37.8% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.0x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% AGX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.0% -36.7% -11.0% AGX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +50.9%/yr +5.4%/yr +41.7%/yr AGX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 74.9% 30.4% 45.5% STN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 74/100 72/100 64/100 AGX

Percentile Scorecard

AGXSTNEME

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

AxisAGXSTNEME
Valuation 65 #19 of 52 92 #5 of 52 57 #23 of 52
Growth 100 #1 of 37 36 #24 of 37 56 #17 of 37
Profitability 100 #1 of 37 89 #5 of 37 86 #6 of 37
Financial Health 64 #21 of 57 79 #13 of 57 70 #18 of 57
Shareholder Returns 39 #17 of 27 65 #10 of 27 54 #13 of 27
Overall 74 72 64
  • AGX ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • STN ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • EME ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAGXSTNEMESPY
1 month -9.8%+2.9%-12.7% -0.8%
3 months -39.3%+0.5%-10.4% +3.5%
6 months -50.2%-21.9%-24.8% +7.0%
Year to date +5.1%-24.8%+8.8% +12.2%
1 year +11.0%-36.7%-11.0% +13.0%
3 years +638.3%+18.4%+224.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +94.8%+5.8%+48.0% +23.1%
5 years +682.4%+29.8%+471.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +50.9%+5.4%+41.7% +11.0%
10 years +494.8%+216.8%+1,083.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year +19.5%+12.2%+28.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAGXSTNEMESPY
Volatility, 1Y 74.9%30.4%45.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 68.1%34.6%48.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.710.761.93 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.15-1.21-0.24 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.8%-41.3%-36.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -58.8%-37.6%-29.5% -1.8%
52-week high $798.55$113.70$943.75 $779.14
52-week low $292.22$66.69$581.58 $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.

MultipleAGXSTNEME
P/E now vs peer median 25.8xmedian 25.7x 12.4xmedian 25.7x 20.5xmedian 25.7x
P/S now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 0.8x 0.8xmedian 0.8x 1.6xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.0xmedian 12.9x 5.1xmedian 12.9x 13.4xmedian 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 8.5xmedian 22.5x 15.3xmedian 22.5x 25.1xmedian 22.5x
P/B now vs peer median 9.1xmedian 2.3x 3.4xmedian 2.3x 7.2xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.38median 0.56 0.60median 0.56 0.44median 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 monthsAGXSTNEME
Revenue $1.19B $10.51B $18.60B
Gross profit $247.88M $4.58B $3.61B
Operating income $182.50M $1.23B $1.93B
Net income $179.31M $536.90M $1.44B
Free cash flow $545.70M $528.58M $1.17B
EPS (diluted) $12.66 $5.72 $32.30
Cash & equivalents $364.48M $265.54M $924.41M
Total debt – $2.38B –
Shares (diluted) 14.16M 114.07M 44.55M
Enterprise value $2.80B $6.99B $26.06B

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
MetricAGXSTNEME
P/E 25.8x 12.4x 20.5x
P/FCF 8.5x 15.3x 25.1x
P/Operating cash flow 8.3x 17.3x 22.8x
P/S 3.9x 0.8x 1.6x
P/B 9.1x 3.4x 7.2x
P/Tangible book 9.2x 4.0x 9.8x
EV/EBITDA 22.0x 5.1x 13.4x
EV/EBIT 22.3x 6.5x 14.8x
EV/Revenue 3.4x 0.8x 1.5x
EV/FCF 7.5x 15.2x 24.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.3x 17.2x 22.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.38 0.60 0.44

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAGXSTNEME
Revenue growth (1Y) 29.0% 9.4% 18.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 35.1% 10.4% 16.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 43.2% 10.5% 18.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 45.7% 11.2% 26.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 55.5% 20.5% 29.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 71.8% 16.5% 41.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 53.0% 24.6% 30.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 67.9% 15.4% 43.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 52.6% 24.6% 31.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 67.8% 20.6% 47.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 279.5% -13.0% -0.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 108.5% 15.5% 20.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 289.0% -10.2% -3.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 111.7% 24.6% 20.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAGXSTNEME
Gross margin 20.9% 43.6% 19.4%
EBITDA margin 15.5% 14.9% 11.5%
Operating margin 15.4% 11.7% 10.4%
Pretax margin 18.2% 11.3% 10.5%
Net margin 15.1% 6.2% 7.7%
FCF margin 45.9% 5.0% 6.3%
Operating cash flow margin 46.7% 4.4% 6.9%
Return on equity 36.6% 36.3% 36.2%
Return on assets 13.3% 15.1% 14.6%
Return on invested capital – 37.8% –
Return on capital employed 39.2% 28.3% 41.9%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.8x 1.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.1x 0.9x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.3% 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAGXSTNEME
Debt / assets – 3.9% –
Debt / equity – 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.0x –
Debt / FCF – 0.4x –
Liabilities / assets 63.8% 58.6% 59.8%
Equity / assets 36.2% 41.4% 40.2%
Interest coverage – 9.6x –
Current ratio 1.5x 1.5x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.0x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.25 – 6.46

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAGXSTNEME
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.3% 0.2%
Net buyback yield 0.3% – 1.4%
Shareholder yield 0.9% 1.3% 1.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) 15.6% – 4.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 5.1% – 4.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) 37.2% – 26.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 27.7% – 25.6%

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.

ConsensusAGXSTNEME
Forward P/E 23.5xFY2026 15.4xFY2026 19.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $14.02FY2026 $4.62FY2026 $34.73FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +43.9%FY2026 +19.7%FY2026 +34.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.8% +2.6% +10.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.36BFY2026 $4.75BFY2026 $19.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.6%FY2026 +0.4%FY2026 +12.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.0% +7.6% +13.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAGXSTNEME
Held by institutions 99.2% 62.0% 93.1%
Institutions holding 559 293 1,235
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.8% +2.8% -0.1%
Institutions buying 315 162 659
Institutions selling 185 87 419
Buyers to sellers 1.70 1.86 1.57

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.

AGXSTNEME
AGX 1.00 0.00 0.52
STN 0.00 1.00 0.10
EME 0.52 0.10 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AGX, STN and EME?

Emcor (EME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Argan (AGX) $4.79B, Stantec (STN) $8.06B, Emcor (EME) $29.67B.

Which stock is cheaper, AGX, STN and EME?

Stantec (STN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Argan (AGX) 26.7x, Stantec (STN) 12.4x, Emcor (EME) 20.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Stantec (STN) is cheapest (Argan (AGX) 23.5x, Stantec (STN) 15.4x, Emcor (EME) 19.2x). 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%, Stantec (STN) +9.4%, Emcor (EME) +18.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Argan (AGX) has the highest net margin (Argan (AGX) 15.1%, Stantec (STN) 6.2%, Emcor (EME) 7.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Argan (AGX) returned the most: Argan (AGX) +11.0%, Stantec (STN) -36.7%, Emcor (EME) -11.0%. Over five years, Argan (AGX) compounded fastest (Argan (AGX) +50.9%/yr, Stantec (STN) +5.4%/yr, Emcor (EME) +41.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Argan (AGX) has the highest dividend yield: Argan (AGX) 0.01%, Stantec (STN) 0.00%, Emcor (EME) 0.00%. Stantec (STN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Stantec (STN) has been the steadiest (Argan (AGX) 74.9%, Stantec (STN) 30.4%, Emcor (EME) 45.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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