IBP vs EME vs STRL Stock Comparison

Installed Building Products, Emcor and Sterling Infrastructure Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EME EMCOR Group, Inc.
$678.79 -11.3% 1M -9.7% 1Y
Market cap
$30.03B
P/E
21.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.60B
Div. yield
0.24%
Engineering and Construction Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionIBPEMESTRLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.31B $30.03B $11.94B EME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.2x 21.0x 21.5x EME
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.9x 19.5x 20.8x EME
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +0.3% +18.9% +93.1% STRL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.5% 7.7% — IBP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.0% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.4x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.48% 0.24% — IBP
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -25.9% -9.7% +2.4% STRL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.5%/yr +41.1%/yr +74.6%/yr STRL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 55.0% 45.5% 85.8% EME
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 65/100 65/100 67/100 STRL

Percentile Scorecard

IBPEMESTRL

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

AxisIBPEMESTRL
Valuation 57 #23 of 52 61 #21 of 52 37 #33 of 52
Growth 19 #30 of 37 56 #17 of 37 92 #4 of 37
Profitability 97 #2 of 37 89 #5 of 37 81 #8 of 37
Financial Health 71 #17 of 57 70 #18 of 57 57 #25 of 57
Shareholder Returns 80 #6 of 26 52 #13 of 26 –
Overall 65 65 67
  • IBP ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • EME ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • STRL ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIBPEMESTRLSPY
1 month +1.9%-11.3%-22.0% +0.9%
3 months -13.3%+1.0%-21.3% +5.9%
6 months -29.8%-18.5%-17.2% +8.5%
Year to date -23.0%+11.0%+27.0% +13.3%
1 year -25.9%-9.7%+2.4% +12.4%
3 years +83.4%+230.6%+448.6% +88.1%
3 years, per year +22.4%+49.0%+76.4% +23.5%
5 years +57.2%+458.7%+1,517.6% +68.2%
5 years, per year +9.5%+41.1%+74.6% +11.0%
10 years +523.2%+1,020.5%+4,989.9% +263.4%
10 years, per year +20.1%+27.3%+48.1% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureIBPEMESTRLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 55.0%45.5%85.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 60.8%48.4%81.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.391.933.40 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.47-0.210.03 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.2%-36.2%-64.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -42.0%-28.1%-60.9% -0.9%
52-week high $344.19$943.75$993.74 $779.14
52-week low $180.32$581.58$283.57 $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.

MultipleIBPEMESTRL
P/E now vs peer median 21.2xmedian 27.7x 21.0xmedian 27.7x 21.5xmedian 27.7x
P/S now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 0.8x 1.6xmedian 0.8x 2.8xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.4xmedian 12.4x 13.6xmedian 12.4x —median 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 23.7x 25.6xmedian 23.7x 32.2xmedian 23.7x
P/B now vs peer median 8.3xmedian 2.5x 7.4xmedian 2.5x 7.9xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 6.39median 0.57 0.45median 0.57 0.16median 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 monthsIBPEMESTRL
Revenue $2.96B $18.60B $4.31B
Gross profit $996.90M $3.61B $1.03B
Operating income $367.80M $1.93B $783.88M
Net income $250.70M $1.44B $593.79M
Free cash flow $291.70M $1.17B –
EPS (diluted) $9.39 $32.30 $17.80
Cash & equivalents $394.50M $924.41M $216.94M
Total debt $1.06B – –
Shares (diluted) 26.71M 44.55M 31.14M
Enterprise value $3.78B $26.42B $11.98B

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
MetricIBPEMESTRL
P/E 21.2x 21.0x 21.5x
P/FCF 18.2x 25.6x 32.2x
P/Operating cash flow 14.7x 23.3x 19.5x
P/S 1.8x 1.6x 2.8x
P/B 8.3x 7.4x 7.9x
P/Tangible book 14.3x 10.0x 14.1x
EV/EBITDA 12.4x 13.6x –
EV/EBIT 16.2x 15.1x –
EV/Revenue 2.0x 1.6x 2.8x
EV/FCF 20.5x 24.8x –
EV/Operating cash flow 16.6x 22.6x 19.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 6.39 0.45 0.16

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIBPEMESTRL
Revenue growth (1Y) 0.3% 18.9% 93.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.4% 16.7% 30.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 0.5% 18.5% 99.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.2% 26.3% 48.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.8% 29.9% 125.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.2% 41.7% 61.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 0.3% 30.2% 77.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 1.4% 43.8% 64.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 2.9% 31.5% 74.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 47.0% 137.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 0.4% -0.6% 43.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 20.8% 14.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 5.3% -3.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.0% 20.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIBPEMESTRL
Gross margin 33.6% 19.4% –
EBITDA margin 16.2% 11.5% –
Operating margin 12.4% 10.4% –
Pretax margin 11.3% 10.5% –
Net margin 8.5% 7.7% –
FCF margin 9.8% 6.3% –
Operating cash flow margin 12.1% 6.9% 14.2%
Return on equity 38.4% 36.2% 41.0%
Return on assets 11.2% 14.6% 17.8%
Return on invested capital 16.0% – –
Return on capital employed 19.8% 41.9% –
Asset turnover 1.3x 1.9x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 0.9x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.1% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIBPEMESTRL
Debt / assets 47.2% – –
Debt / equity 1.7x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.4x – –
Debt / FCF 3.6x – –
Liabilities / assets 71.6% 59.8% 55.3%
Equity / assets 28.4% 40.2% 43.3%
Interest coverage 10.2x – –
Current ratio 3.0x 1.3x 1.0x
Quick ratio 2.2x 1.2x –
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.2x –
Altman Z-score 4.91 6.51 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIBPEMESTRL
Dividend yield 1.5% 0.2% –
Net buyback yield 3.6% 1.4% –
Shareholder yield 5.1% 1.6% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 4.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 4.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 26.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 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.

ConsensusIBPEMESTRL
Forward P/E 19.9xFY2026 19.5xFY2026 20.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.04FY2026 $34.73FY2026 $18.73FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -12.2%FY2026 +34.2%FY2026 +72.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +2.6% +10.7% +43.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.10BFY2026 $19.07BFY2026 $4.20BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.3%FY2026 +12.2%FY2026 +68.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -7.8% +13.1% +12.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIBPEMESTRL
Held by institutions 97.9% 93.1% 85.7%
Institutions holding 423 1,235 888
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.2% -0.1% -6.1%
Institutions buying 229 659 456
Institutions selling 146 419 366
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.57 1.25

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.

IBPEMESTRL
IBP 1.00 0.16 0.20
EME 0.16 1.00 0.68
STRL 0.20 0.68 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IBP, EME and STRL?

Emcor (EME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Installed Building Products (IBP) $5.31B, Emcor (EME) $30.03B, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) $11.94B.

Which stock is cheaper, IBP, EME and STRL?

Emcor (EME) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Installed Building Products (IBP) 21.2x, Emcor (EME) 21.0x, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 21.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Emcor (EME) is cheapest (Installed Building Products (IBP) 19.9x, Emcor (EME) 19.5x, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 20.8x). 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: Installed Building Products (IBP) +0.3%, Emcor (EME) +18.9%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +93.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Installed Building Products (IBP) has the highest net margin (Installed Building Products (IBP) 8.5%, Emcor (EME) 7.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) returned the most: Installed Building Products (IBP) -25.9%, Emcor (EME) -9.7%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +2.4%. Over five years, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) compounded fastest (Installed Building Products (IBP) +9.5%/yr, Emcor (EME) +41.1%/yr, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +74.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Installed Building Products (IBP) has the highest dividend yield: Installed Building Products (IBP) 1.48%, Emcor (EME) 0.24%. Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Emcor (EME) has been the steadiest (Installed Building Products (IBP) 55.0%, Emcor (EME) 45.5%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 85.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IBP, EME and STRL?

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.