Comparing AECOM (NYSE:ACM) & TSS (NASDAQ:TSSI)

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) and TSS (NASDAQ:TSSI) are both construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and risk.

Risk & Volatility

AECOM has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TSS has a beta of 1.67, meaning that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares AECOM and TSS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AECOM	3.82%	27.87%	5.78%
TSS	3.43%	107.01%	8.66%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for AECOM and TSS, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AECOM	0	0	9	0	3.00
TSS	0	0	0	0	0.00

AECOM presently has a consensus price target of $128.4444, indicating a potential upside of 4.52%. Given AECOM’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe AECOM is more favorable than TSS.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.4% of AECOM shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of AECOM shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.9% of TSS shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares AECOM and TSS”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AECOM	$16.11 billion	1.01	$402.27 million	$4.59	26.77
TSS	$263.02 million	1.49	$5.98 million	$0.36	42.78

AECOM has higher revenue and earnings than TSS. AECOM is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TSS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

AECOM beats TSS on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AECOM

AECOM, together with its subsidiaries, provides professional infrastructure consulting services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Americas, International, and AECOM Capital. The company offers planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, construction and program management, and investment and development services to public and private clients. It is also involved in the investment and development of real estate projects. In addition, the company provides construction services, including building construction and energy, and infrastructure and industrial construction. It serves transportation, water, government, facilities, environmental, and energy sectors. The company was formerly known as AECOM Technology Corporation and changed its name to AECOM in January 2015. AECOM was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About TSS

TSS, Inc. offers planning, design, engineering, construction management, commissioning and maintenance services. It provides these services primarily for specialized facilities such as data centers, communications rooms, call centers, laboratories, trading floors, network operations centers, medical facilities and similar environments. TSS Inc., formerly known as Fortress International Group, Inc., is based in Columbia, United States.