J vs STRL vs AGX Stock Comparison

Jacobs Solutions, Sterling Infrastructure and Argan 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
3 wins
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
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionJSTRLAGXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.37B $11.28B $4.78B J
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 51.6x 26.1x 26.7x STRL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.9x 19.6x 24.3x STRL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.1% +60.8% +29.0% STRL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.4% 12.5% 15.1% AGX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.8% 29.2% — STRL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.7x -0.3x — STRL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.94% — 0.65% J
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -7.9% -2.5% +15.6% AGX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.2%/yr +72.8%/yr +52.1%/yr STRL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.0% 85.6% 74.9% J
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 45/100 71/100 73/100 AGX

Percentile Scorecard

JSTRLAGX

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

AxisJSTRLAGX
Valuation 37 #33 of 52 49 #27 of 52 63 #20 of 52
Growth 31 #26 of 37 86 #6 of 37 100 #1 of 37
Profitability 53 #18 of 37 97 #2 of 37 100 #1 of 37
Financial Health 45 #32 of 57 75 #15 of 57 64 #21 of 57
Shareholder Returns 62 #11 of 27 46 #15 of 27 39 #17 of 27
Overall 45 71 73
  • J ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • STRL ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • AGX ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodJSTRLAGXSPY
1 month +7.2%-28.3%-6.6% -0.2%
3 months +5.4%-31.7%-34.9% +3.9%
6 months +17.3%-22.1%-45.9% +8.2%
Year to date +11.9%+20.0%+8.8% +12.9%
1 year -7.9%-2.5%+15.6% +12.3%
3 years +36.7%+418.5%+664.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +11.0%+73.1%+97.1% +23.3%
5 years +28.7%+1,435.7%+712.7% +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.2%+72.8%+52.1% +10.9%
10 years +253.7%+4,685.2%+518.2% +261.1%
10 years, per year +13.5%+47.2%+20.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureJSTRLAGXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.0%85.6%74.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.0%81.7%68.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.773.391.72 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.24-0.030.21 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.8%-64.2%-58.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-63.0%-57.3% -1.2%
52-week high $161.00$993.74$798.55 $779.14
52-week low $107.27$283.57$292.22 $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.

MultipleJSTRLAGX
P/E now vs peer median 51.6xmedian 26.7x 26.1xmedian 26.7x 26.7xmedian 26.7x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 0.8x 3.3xmedian 0.8x 4.0xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.4xmedian 13.1x 16.0xmedian 13.1x 22.9xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.9xmedian 23.0x 23.4xmedian 23.0x 8.8xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.4x 8.1xmedian 2.4x 9.4xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median -2.43median 0.57 0.14median 0.57 0.39median 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 monthsJSTRLAGX
Revenue $14.22B $3.44B $1.19B
Gross profit $3.14B $818.59M $247.88M
Operating income $649.64M $602.35M $182.50M
Net income $301.35M $460.44M $179.31M
Free cash flow $644.54M $482.00M $545.70M
EPS (diluted) $2.85 $13.85 $12.66
Cash & equivalents $1.17B $464.45M $364.48M
Total debt $3.58B $283.88M –
Shares (diluted) 118.90M 31.14M 14.16M
Enterprise value $12.02B $9.64B $2.79B

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
MetricJSTRLAGX
P/E 51.6x 26.1x 26.7x
P/FCF 26.9x 23.4x 8.8x
P/Operating cash flow 23.6x 18.9x 8.6x
P/S 1.2x 3.3x 4.0x
P/B 5.3x 8.1x 9.4x
P/Tangible book 6.5x 15.4x 9.6x
EV/EBITDA 22.4x 16.0x 22.9x
EV/EBIT 30.4x 18.4x 23.2x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 3.2x 3.6x
EV/FCF 30.7x 23.0x 7.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.9x 18.6x 7.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.43 0.14 0.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricJSTRLAGX
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.1% 60.8% 29.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 28.1% 22.6% 35.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.3% 72.5% 43.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.8% 39.4% 45.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -23.4% 94.1% 55.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.0% 49.7% 71.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -40.0% 51.3% 53.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.5% 55.4% 67.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -30.4% 49.5% 52.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -21.3% 183.9% 67.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 47.1% 20.3% 279.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.7% 18.6% 108.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 56.4% 10.6% 289.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.1% 18.8% 111.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricJSTRLAGX
Gross margin 22.1% 23.8% 20.9%
EBITDA margin 6.2% 20.2% 15.5%
Operating margin 4.6% 17.5% 15.4%
Pretax margin 3.6% 17.5% 18.2%
Net margin 2.4% 12.5% 15.1%
FCF margin 4.5% 14.0% 45.9%
Operating cash flow margin 5.2% 17.4% 46.7%
Return on equity 9.2% 35.6% 36.6%
Return on assets 2.5% 15.4% 13.3%
Return on invested capital 5.8% 29.2% –
Return on capital employed 8.2% 35.5% 39.2%
Asset turnover 1.2x 1.2x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.4x 1.3x 3.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.8% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricJSTRLAGX
Debt / assets 30.5% 8.9% –
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.7x -0.3x –
Debt / FCF 5.6x 0.6x –
Liabilities / assets 72.2% 56.5% 63.8%
Equity / assets 27.8% 43.5% 36.2%
Interest coverage 3.9x 36.1x –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.1x 1.5x
Quick ratio 1.6x 0.4x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.4x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 2.85 6.00 5.36

Shareholder Returns

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

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.

ConsensusJSTRLAGX
Forward P/E 21.9xFY2026 19.6xFY2026 24.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.78FY2026 $18.73FY2026 $14.02FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.8%FY2026 +72.2%FY2026 +43.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.6% +43.6% +5.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.78BFY2026 $4.20BFY2026 $1.36BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -18.7%FY2026 +68.8%FY2026 +43.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.5% +12.4% +19.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersJSTRLAGX
Held by institutions 92.2% 85.7% 99.2%
Institutions holding 871 888 559
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% -6.1% +10.8%
Institutions buying 375 456 315
Institutions selling 360 366 185
Buyers to sellers 1.04 1.25 1.70

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.

JSTRLAGX
J 1.00 0.07 -0.08
STRL 0.07 1.00 0.52
AGX -0.08 0.52 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, J, STRL and AGX?

Jacobs Solutions (J) is the largest by market capitalisation: Jacobs Solutions (J) $17.37B, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) $11.28B, Argan (AGX) $4.78B.

Which stock is cheaper, J, STRL and AGX?

Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Jacobs Solutions (J) 51.6x, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 26.1x, Argan (AGX) 26.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) is cheapest (Jacobs Solutions (J) 21.9x, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 19.6x, Argan (AGX) 24.3x). 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: Jacobs Solutions (J) +20.1%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +60.8%, Argan (AGX) +29.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Argan (AGX) has the highest net margin (Jacobs Solutions (J) 2.4%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 12.5%, Argan (AGX) 15.1%). On return on invested capital, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) leads (Jacobs Solutions (J) 5.8%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 29.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Argan (AGX) returned the most: Jacobs Solutions (J) -7.9%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) -2.5%, Argan (AGX) +15.6%. Over five years, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) compounded fastest (Jacobs Solutions (J) +5.2%/yr, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) +72.8%/yr, Argan (AGX) +52.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Jacobs Solutions (J) has the highest dividend yield: Jacobs Solutions (J) 0.94%, Argan (AGX) 0.65%. Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Jacobs Solutions (J) has been the steadiest (Jacobs Solutions (J) 33.0%, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) 85.6%, Argan (AGX) 74.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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