J vs NOA vs URI Stock Comparison

Jacobs Solutions, North American Construction and United Rentals Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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
2 wins
URI United Rentals, Inc.
$1,162.88 +11.1% 1M +29.2% 1Y
Market cap
$72.09B
P/E
25.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.50B
Div. yield
0.66%
Equipment Rental Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

United Rentals leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (United Rentals 7, North American Construction 3, Jacobs Solutions 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionJNOAURILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.37B $354.50M $72.09B URI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 51.6x 15.0x 25.3x NOA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.9x 10.3x 21.0x NOA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.1% +7.5% +9.4% J
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.4% 2.2% 16.3% URI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.8% 6.8% 14.0% URI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.7x 2.6x 2.3x URI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.94% 3.90% 0.66% NOA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -7.9% -19.5% +29.2% URI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.2%/yr -7.0%/yr +26.0%/yr URI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.0% 48.1% 42.3% J
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 45/100 55/100 56/100 URI

Percentile Scorecard

JNOAURI

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

AxisJNOAURI
Valuation 37 #33 of 52 88 #7 of 52 20 #37 of 46
Growth 31 #26 of 37 14 #32 of 37 92 #4 of 39
Profitability 53 #18 of 37 61 #15 of 37 95 #3 of 39
Financial Health 45 #32 of 57 16 #48 of 57 20 #38 of 47
Shareholder Returns 62 #11 of 27 96 #2 of 27 52 #16 of 32
Overall 45 55 56
  • J ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • NOA ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • URI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodJNOAURISPY
1 month +7.2%-0.1%+11.1% -0.2%
3 months +5.4%-10.3%+6.6% +3.9%
6 months +17.3%-15.3%+20.8% +8.2%
Year to date +11.9%-14.4%+43.7% +12.9%
1 year -7.9%-19.5%+29.2% +12.3%
3 years +36.7%-40.8%+191.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year +11.0%-16.1%+42.9% +23.3%
5 years +28.7%-30.4%+216.7% +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.2%-7.0%+26.0% +10.9%
10 years +253.7%+310.0%+1,424.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +13.5%+15.2%+31.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureJNOAURISPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.0%48.1%42.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.0%56.1%39.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.771.211.04 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.24-0.410.69 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.8%-55.8%-40.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-27.1%-0.2% -1.2%
52-week high $161.00$16.88$1,165.29 $779.14
52-week low $107.27$11.22$710.47 $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.

MultipleJNOAURI
P/E now vs peer median 51.6xmedian 26.7x 15.0xmedian 26.7x 25.3xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 0.8x 0.3xmedian 0.8x 4.1xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.4xmedian 13.1x 4.1xmedian 13.1x 13.7xmedian 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.9xmedian 23.0x -1.6xmedian 23.0x 80.8xmedian 21.9x
P/B now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.4x 1.0xmedian 2.4x 7.4xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median -2.43median 0.57 -0.59median 0.57 2.66median 2.38

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 monthsJNOAURI
Revenue $14.22B $1.06B $17.50B
Gross profit $3.14B $137.57M $6.84B
Operating income $649.64M $76.84M $4.47B
Net income $301.35M $23.49M $2.86B
Free cash flow $644.54M -$218.42M $892.00M
EPS (diluted) $2.85 $0.73 $45.89
Cash & equivalents $1.17B $118.01M $153.00M
Total debt $3.58B $727.57M $14.67B
Shares (diluted) 118.90M 32.27M 62.26M
Enterprise value $12.02B $3.38M $71.21B

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
MetricJNOAURI
P/E 51.6x 15.0x 25.3x
P/FCF 26.9x -1.6x 80.8x
P/Operating cash flow 23.6x – 11.6x
P/S 1.2x 0.3x 4.1x
P/B 5.3x 1.0x 7.4x
P/Tangible book 6.5x 1.1x 7.8x
EV/EBITDA 22.4x 4.1x 13.7x
EV/EBIT 30.4x 12.5x 19.4x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 0.9x 5.0x
EV/FCF 30.7x -4.4x 97.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.9x – 14.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.43 -0.59 2.66

Growth

14 metrics
MetricJNOAURI
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.1% 7.5% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 28.1% 18.0% 8.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.3% -2.3% 10.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.8% 12.5% 6.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -23.4% -22.0% 11.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.0% 6.6% 5.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -40.0% -7.1% 12.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.5% -26.9% 6.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -30.4% -6.7% 16.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -21.3% -25.5% 9.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 47.1% – 24.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.7% – 10.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 56.4% -9.6% 98.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.1% -50.4% 83.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricJNOAURI
Gross margin 22.1% 13.0% 39.1%
EBITDA margin 6.2% 22.4% 36.1%
Operating margin 4.6% 7.3% 25.5%
Pretax margin 3.6% 19.2% 21.8%
Net margin 2.4% 2.2% 16.3%
FCF margin 4.5% -20.6% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 5.2% – 35.4%
Return on equity 9.2% 16.7% 30.2%
Return on assets 2.5% 3.9% 8.9%
Return on invested capital 5.8% 6.8% 14.0%
Return on capital employed 8.2% – 16.5%
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.4x – 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.4% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricJNOAURI
Debt / assets 30.5% 46.0% 44.7%
Debt / equity 1.1x 2.2x 1.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.7x 2.6x 2.3x
Debt / FCF 5.6x -3.3x 16.4x
Liabilities / assets 72.2% 78.6% 70.4%
Equity / assets 27.8% 21.4% 29.6%
Interest coverage 3.9x – –
Current ratio 1.3x – 0.8x
Quick ratio 1.6x – 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.3x – 0.0x
Altman Z-score 2.85 – 3.57

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricJNOAURI
Dividend yield 0.9% 3.9% 0.7%
Net buyback yield 3.9% 7.8% 2.5%
Shareholder yield 4.9% 11.7% 3.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 53.6% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 25.1% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 6.9% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 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.

ConsensusJNOAURI
Forward P/E 21.9xFY2026 10.3xFY2026 21.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.78FY2026 $1.19FY2026 $55.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.8%FY2026 +43.4%FY2026 +31.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.6% +22.7% +6.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.78BFY2026 $1.16BFY2026 $18.69BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -18.7%FY2026 +23.6%FY2026 +16.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.5% +9.6% +3.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersJNOAURI
Held by institutions 92.2% 57.1% 95.9%
Institutions holding 871 72 1,587
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% -3.6% +4.7%
Institutions buying 375 45 804
Institutions selling 360 18 537
Buyers to sellers 1.04 2.50 1.50

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.

JNOAURI
J 1.00 0.19 0.29
NOA 0.19 1.00 0.23
URI 0.29 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, J, NOA and URI?

United Rentals (URI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Jacobs Solutions (J) $17.37B, North American Construction (NOA) $354.50M, United Rentals (URI) $72.09B.

Which stock is cheaper, J, NOA and URI?

North American Construction (NOA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Jacobs Solutions (J) 51.6x, North American Construction (NOA) 15.0x, United Rentals (URI) 25.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, North American Construction (NOA) is cheapest (Jacobs Solutions (J) 21.9x, North American Construction (NOA) 10.3x, United Rentals (URI) 21.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Jacobs Solutions (J) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Jacobs Solutions (J) +20.1%, North American Construction (NOA) +7.5%, United Rentals (URI) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest net margin (Jacobs Solutions (J) 2.4%, North American Construction (NOA) 2.2%, United Rentals (URI) 16.3%). On return on invested capital, United Rentals (URI) leads (Jacobs Solutions (J) 5.8%, North American Construction (NOA) 6.8%, United Rentals (URI) 14.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year United Rentals (URI) returned the most: Jacobs Solutions (J) -7.9%, North American Construction (NOA) -19.5%, United Rentals (URI) +29.2%. Over five years, United Rentals (URI) compounded fastest (Jacobs Solutions (J) +5.2%/yr, North American Construction (NOA) -7.0%/yr, United Rentals (URI) +26.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

North American Construction (NOA) has the highest dividend yield: Jacobs Solutions (J) 0.94%, North American Construction (NOA) 3.90%, United Rentals (URI) 0.66%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Jacobs Solutions (J) has been the steadiest (Jacobs Solutions (J) 33.0%, North American Construction (NOA) 48.1%, United Rentals (URI) 42.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, J, NOA and URI?

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