AGX vs STRL vs EME Stock Comparison

Argan, Sterling Infrastructure 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
4 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
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Emcor leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Emcor 4, Argan 4, Sterling Infrastructure 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAGXSTRLEMELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.79B $11.30B $29.67B EME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.7x 26.2x 20.6x EME
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.5x 19.3x 19.2x EME
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +29.0% +60.8% +18.9% STRL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.1% 12.5% 7.7% AGX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 29.2% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.3x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% AGX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.0% -4.8% -11.0% AGX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +50.9%/yr +73.7%/yr +41.7%/yr STRL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 74.9% 85.8% 45.5% EME
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 74/100 71/100 64/100 AGX

Percentile Scorecard

AGXSTRLEME

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

AxisAGXSTRLEME
Valuation 65 #19 of 52 49 #27 of 52 57 #23 of 52
Growth 100 #1 of 37 86 #6 of 37 56 #17 of 37
Profitability 100 #1 of 37 97 #2 of 37 86 #6 of 37
Financial Health 64 #21 of 57 75 #15 of 57 70 #18 of 57
Shareholder Returns 39 #17 of 27 50 #14 of 27 54 #13 of 27
Overall 74 71 64
  • AGX ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • STRL 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

PeriodAGXSTRLEMESPY
1 month -9.8%-29.6%-12.7% -0.8%
3 months -39.3%-43.2%-10.4% +3.5%
6 months -50.2%-28.6%-24.8% +7.0%
Year to date +5.1%+17.8%+8.8% +12.2%
1 year +11.0%-4.8%-11.0% +13.0%
3 years +638.3%+408.9%+224.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +94.8%+72.1%+48.0% +23.1%
5 years +682.4%+1,477.3%+471.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +50.9%+73.7%+41.7% +11.0%
10 years +494.8%+4,609.1%+1,083.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year +19.5%+47.0%+28.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAGXSTRLEMESPY
Volatility, 1Y 74.9%85.8%45.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 68.1%81.7%48.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.713.391.93 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.15-0.06-0.24 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.8%-64.2%-36.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -58.8%-63.7%-29.5% -1.8%
52-week high $798.55$993.74$943.75 $779.14
52-week low $292.22$283.57$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.

MultipleAGXSTRLEME
P/E now vs peer median 25.8xmedian 25.7x 25.7xmedian 25.7x 20.5xmedian 25.7x
P/S now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 0.8x 3.2xmedian 0.8x 1.6xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.0xmedian 12.9x 15.7xmedian 12.9x 13.4xmedian 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 8.5xmedian 22.5x 23.0xmedian 22.5x 25.1xmedian 22.5x
P/B now vs peer median 9.1xmedian 2.3x 8.0xmedian 2.3x 7.2xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.38median 0.56 0.14median 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 monthsAGXSTRLEME
Revenue $1.19B $3.44B $18.60B
Gross profit $247.88M $818.59M $3.61B
Operating income $182.50M $602.35M $1.93B
Net income $179.31M $460.44M $1.44B
Free cash flow $545.70M $482.00M $1.17B
EPS (diluted) $12.66 $13.85 $32.30
Cash & equivalents $364.48M $464.45M $924.41M
Total debt – $283.88M –
Shares (diluted) 14.16M 31.14M 44.55M
Enterprise value $2.80B $9.63B $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
MetricAGXSTRLEME
P/E 25.8x 25.7x 20.5x
P/FCF 8.5x 23.0x 25.1x
P/Operating cash flow 8.3x 18.5x 22.8x
P/S 3.9x 3.2x 1.6x
P/B 9.1x 8.0x 7.2x
P/Tangible book 9.2x 15.2x 9.8x
EV/EBITDA 22.0x 15.7x 13.4x
EV/EBIT 22.3x 18.1x 14.8x
EV/Revenue 3.4x 3.2x 1.5x
EV/FCF 7.5x 22.6x 24.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.3x 18.2x 22.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.38 0.14 0.44

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAGXSTRLEME
Revenue growth (1Y) 29.0% 60.8% 18.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 35.1% 22.6% 16.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 43.2% 72.5% 18.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 45.7% 39.4% 26.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 55.5% 94.1% 29.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 71.8% 49.7% 41.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 53.0% 51.3% 30.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 67.9% 55.4% 43.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 52.6% 49.5% 31.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 67.8% 183.9% 47.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 279.5% 20.3% -0.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 108.5% 18.6% 20.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 289.0% 10.6% -3.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 111.7% 18.8% 20.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAGXSTRLEME
Gross margin 20.9% 23.8% 19.4%
EBITDA margin 15.5% 20.2% 11.5%
Operating margin 15.4% 17.5% 10.4%
Pretax margin 18.2% 17.5% 10.5%
Net margin 15.1% 12.5% 7.7%
FCF margin 45.9% 14.0% 6.3%
Operating cash flow margin 46.7% 17.4% 6.9%
Return on equity 36.6% 35.6% 36.2%
Return on assets 13.3% 15.4% 14.6%
Return on invested capital – 29.2% –
Return on capital employed 39.2% 35.5% 41.9%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.2x 1.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.1x 1.3x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.8% 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAGXSTRLEME
Debt / assets – 8.9% –
Debt / equity – 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.3x –
Debt / FCF – 0.6x –
Liabilities / assets 63.8% 56.5% 59.8%
Equity / assets 36.2% 43.5% 40.2%
Interest coverage – 36.1x –
Current ratio 1.5x 1.1x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.4x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.4x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.25 5.93 6.46

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAGXSTRLEME
Dividend yield 0.7% – 0.2%
Net buyback yield 0.3% 0.6% 1.4%
Shareholder yield 0.9% 0.6% 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.

ConsensusAGXSTRLEME
Forward P/E 23.5xFY2026 19.3xFY2026 19.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $14.02FY2026 $18.73FY2026 $34.73FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +43.9%FY2026 +72.2%FY2026 +34.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.8% +43.6% +10.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.36BFY2026 $4.20BFY2026 $19.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.6%FY2026 +68.8%FY2026 +12.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.0% +12.4% +13.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAGXSTRLEME
Held by institutions 99.2% 85.7% 93.1%
Institutions holding 559 888 1,235
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.8% -6.1% -0.1%
Institutions buying 315 456 659
Institutions selling 185 366 419
Buyers to sellers 1.70 1.25 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.

AGXSTRLEME
AGX 1.00 0.52 0.52
STRL 0.52 1.00 0.68
EME 0.52 0.68 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AGX, STRL and EME?

Emcor (EME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Argan (AGX) $4.79B, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) $11.30B, Emcor (EME) $29.67B.

Which stock is cheaper, AGX, STRL and EME?

Emcor (EME) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Argan (AGX) 26.7x, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 26.2x, Emcor (EME) 20.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Emcor (EME) is cheapest (Argan (AGX) 23.5x, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 19.3x, 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?

Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Argan (AGX) +29.0%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +60.8%, Emcor (EME) +18.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Argan (AGX) has the highest net margin (Argan (AGX) 15.1%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 12.5%, Emcor (EME) 7.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Argan (AGX) returned the most: Argan (AGX) +11.0%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) -4.8%, Emcor (EME) -11.0%. Over five years, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) compounded fastest (Argan (AGX) +50.9%/yr, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +73.7%/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%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 0.00%, Emcor (EME) 0.00%. Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Emcor (EME) has been the steadiest (Argan (AGX) 74.9%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 85.8%, Emcor (EME) 45.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AGX, STRL 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, Emcor (EME) leads on 4. 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.