Critical Contrast: Orion Group (NYSE:ORN) & Cardinal Infrastructure Group (NASDAQ:CDNL)

Cardinal Infrastructure Group (NASDAQ:CDNL) and Orion Group (NYSE:ORN) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Cardinal Infrastructure Group and Orion Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cardinal Infrastructure Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Orion Group	0.62%	3.59%	1.23%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.3% of Orion Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 61.7% of Cardinal Infrastructure Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of Orion Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Cardinal Infrastructure Group and Orion Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cardinal Infrastructure Group	2	0	4	0	2.33
Orion Group	1	1	5	0	2.57

Cardinal Infrastructure Group currently has a consensus target price of $46.75, suggesting a potential upside of 211.77%. Orion Group has a consensus target price of $14.75, suggesting a potential upside of 87.18%. Given Cardinal Infrastructure Group’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Cardinal Infrastructure Group is more favorable than Orion Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cardinal Infrastructure Group and Orion Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cardinal Infrastructure Group	$456.05 million	1.56	$22.69 million	$0.55	27.26
Orion Group	$852.26 million	0.38	$2.49 million	$0.15	52.53

Cardinal Infrastructure Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Orion Group. Cardinal Infrastructure Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Orion Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Orion Group beats Cardinal Infrastructure Group on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cardinal Infrastructure Group

Cardinal Infrastructure Group is a vertically integrated civil infrastructure and site development platform serving residential, commercial, industrial and municipal projects. CDNL delivers its suite of comprehensive infrastructure services that support the planning, preparation, installation, and development of residential, commercial, industrial, municipal, and state infrastructure projects through wholly owned, market leading subsidiaries. Cardinal’s operations leverage in-house, highly skilled teams and equipment fleets to deliver wet utility installations (water, sewer, and stormwater systems), as well as grading, site clearing, erosion control, drilling and blasting, paving, and other related site services.

About Orion Group

Orion Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ORN) is a construction company that provides infrastructure services for public- and private-sector customers in the United States. The company operates through its Marine and Concrete segments, serving markets that require specialized construction capabilities and project management. Orion’s marine construction business focuses on projects involving ports, waterways and other marine infrastructure. Its services include the construction and repair of piers, docks, bridges, breakwaters and other marine structures, as well as dredging, marine transportation and related site work.