KNF vs ACA vs ROAD Stock Comparison

Knife River, Arcosa and Construction Partners Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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KNF Knife River Corp
$54.83 +0.4% 1M -12.1% 1Y
Market cap
$3.11B
P/E
22.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.31B
Div. yield
–
Aggregates Basic Materials
1 win
ACA Arcosa, Inc.
$149.18 +1.7% 1M +61.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.33B
P/E
14.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.74B
Div. yield
0.13%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Arcosa leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Arcosa 7, Construction Partners 3, Knife River 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKNFACAROADLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.11B $7.33B $4.03B ACA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.2x 14.9x 33.0x ACA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.5x 33.6x 27.0x KNF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.1% +9.7% +41.9% ROAD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.2% 17.9% 4.1% ACA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.5% 6.5% 8.1% ROAD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 1.8x 3.6x ACA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.13% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -12.1% +61.6% -28.0% ACA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +23.0%/yr +19.0%/yr ACA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 51.1% 31.7% 51.4% ACA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 23/100 56/100 63/100 ROAD

Percentile Scorecard

KNFACAROAD

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

AxisKNFACAROAD
Valuation 56 #5 of 10 50 #102 of 203 69 #17 of 52
Growth – 82 #34 of 188 97 #2 of 37
Profitability 0 #8 of 8 50 #92 of 183 69 #12 of 37
Financial Health 13 #8 of 9 58 #92 of 217 23 #44 of 57
Shareholder Returns – 41 #90 of 153 58 #12 of 27
Overall 23 56 63
  • KNF ranked among 10 companies in Construction Materials
  • ACA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ROAD ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodKNFACAROADSPY
1 month +0.4%+1.7%-10.3% -0.2%
3 months -30.6%+2.9%-21.2% +3.9%
6 months -37.7%+24.1%-28.2% +8.2%
Year to date -22.1%+40.3%-22.5% +12.9%
1 year -12.1%+61.6%-28.0% +12.3%
3 years +14.2%+117.4%+125.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +4.5%+29.6%+31.2% +23.3%
5 years —+181.9%+138.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year —+23.0%+19.0% +10.9%

Risk

MeasureKNFACAROADSPY
Volatility, 1Y 51.1%31.7%51.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.4%32.9%47.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.310.951.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.241.94-0.54 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.3%-36.7%-54.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.7%0.0%-40.1% -1.2%
52-week high $93.97$149.18$140.48 $779.14
52-week low $47.97$92.25$80.84 $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.

MultipleKNFACAROAD
P/E now vs peer median 22.2xmedian 20.3x 14.9xmedian 25.2x 33.0xmedian 26.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.8x 2.7xmedian 1.9x 1.2xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.4xmedian 9.5x 15.2xmedian 14.0x 12.0xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 72.3xmedian 31.6x 54.9xmedian 21.7x 23.0xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.3x 2.5xmedian 2.3x 3.9xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 14.99median 2.85 0.75median 1.32 0.53median 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 monthsKNFACAROAD
Revenue $3.31B $2.74B $3.48B
Gross profit $589.67M $632.30M $548.10M
Operating income $275.33M $322.70M $297.95M
Net income $139.89M $491.40M $142.51M
Free cash flow $43.06M $133.40M $175.56M
EPS (diluted) $2.46 $9.99 $2.53
Cash & equivalents $102.03M $432.10M $94.55M
Total debt $1.62B $1.44B $1.79B
Shares (diluted) 56.88M 49.20M 56.27M
Enterprise value $2.73B $6.31B $3.60B

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
MetricKNFACAROAD
P/E 22.2x 14.9x 33.0x
P/FCF 72.3x 54.9x 23.0x
P/Operating cash flow 10.0x 21.5x 11.4x
P/S 0.9x 2.7x 1.2x
P/B 1.9x 2.5x 3.9x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 2.7x 4.2x
EV/EBITDA 9.4x 15.2x 12.0x
EV/EBIT 16.8x 25.8x 19.2x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 3.0x 1.6x
EV/FCF 107.5x 62.4x 32.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.8x 24.4x 16.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 14.99 0.75 0.53

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKNFACAROAD
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.1% 9.7% 41.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.3% 7.0% 32.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.3% 20.7% 50.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 14.2% 47.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 6.5% 61.3% 75.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 6.6% -5.6% 73.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -8.7% 433.0% 91.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 1.7% 20.2% 65.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -8.7% 430.8% 89.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 1.5% 19.8% 61.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 28.0% -23.1% 28.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.2% 16.1% 43.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 181.0% -54.9% 14.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -29.0% 54.7% 91.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKNFACAROAD
Gross margin 17.8% 23.0% 15.8%
EBITDA margin 14.9% 19.9% 13.7%
Operating margin 8.3% 11.8% 8.6%
Pretax margin 5.8% 8.4% 5.4%
Net margin 4.2% 17.9% 4.1%
FCF margin 1.3% 4.9% 5.0%
Operating cash flow margin 9.5% 12.4% 10.1%
Return on equity 8.8% 17.4% 14.1%
Return on assets 3.5% 9.5% 4.0%
Return on invested capital 6.5% 6.5% 8.1%
Return on capital employed 7.8% 6.9% 10.2%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.5x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 0.7x 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.9% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKNFACAROAD
Debt / assets 38.7% 27.1% 49.5%
Debt / equity 1.0x 0.5x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 1.8x 3.6x
Debt / FCF 37.6x 10.8x 10.2x
Liabilities / assets 61.6% 43.7% 71.2%
Equity / assets 38.4% 56.3% 28.8%
Interest coverage 3.1x 3.3x 2.7x
Current ratio 2.7x 3.1x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.5x 2.2x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.2x 1.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.29 3.18 2.49

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKNFACAROAD
Dividend yield – 0.1% –
Net buyback yield – 0.2% 0.8%
Shareholder yield – 0.4% 0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 2.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 7.4% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 1.0% –

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.

ConsensusKNFACAROAD
Forward P/E 20.5xFY2026 33.6xFY2026 27.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.67FY2026 $4.44FY2026 $3.12FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -3.3%FY2026 -0.7%FY2026 +41.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.5% +7.0% +17.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.66BFY2026 $2.45BFY2026 $3.58BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.2%FY2026 -14.9%FY2026 +27.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.1% +12.5% +10.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKNFACAROAD
Held by institutions 96.7% 91.8% 87.7%
Institutions holding 391 426 360
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.0% -1.1% +2.3%
Institutions buying 168 230 190
Institutions selling 137 114 111
Buyers to sellers 1.23 2.02 1.71

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.

KNFACAROAD
KNF 1.00 0.30 0.49
ACA 0.30 1.00 0.37
ROAD 0.49 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KNF, ACA and ROAD?

Arcosa (ACA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Knife River (KNF) $3.11B, Arcosa (ACA) $7.33B, Construction Partners (ROAD) $4.03B.

Which stock is cheaper, KNF, ACA and ROAD?

Arcosa (ACA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Knife River (KNF) 22.2x, Arcosa (ACA) 14.9x, Construction Partners (ROAD) 33.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Knife River (KNF) is cheapest (Knife River (KNF) 20.5x, Arcosa (ACA) 33.6x, Construction Partners (ROAD) 27.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Construction Partners (ROAD) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Knife River (KNF) +12.1%, Arcosa (ACA) +9.7%, Construction Partners (ROAD) +41.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Arcosa (ACA) has the highest net margin (Knife River (KNF) 4.2%, Arcosa (ACA) 17.9%, Construction Partners (ROAD) 4.1%). On return on invested capital, Construction Partners (ROAD) leads (Knife River (KNF) 6.5%, Arcosa (ACA) 6.5%, Construction Partners (ROAD) 8.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Arcosa (ACA) returned the most: Knife River (KNF) -12.1%, Arcosa (ACA) +61.6%, Construction Partners (ROAD) -28.0%. Over five years, Arcosa (ACA) compounded fastest (Arcosa (ACA) +23.0%/yr, Construction Partners (ROAD) +19.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Arcosa (ACA) 0.13%. Knife River (KNF) and Construction Partners (ROAD) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Arcosa (ACA) has been the steadiest (Knife River (KNF) 51.1%, Arcosa (ACA) 31.7%, Construction Partners (ROAD) 51.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KNF, ACA and ROAD?

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