Will Biden's Infrastructure Plan Boost These 4 Construction Companies?

Industrials

Published: January 14, 2021 12:59 pm

President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to give a prime-time speech Thursday evening outlining an infrastructure spending plan costing $1.5 trillion to $2.0 trillion, including $1,400 stimulus checks for U.S. taxpayers. Biden is expected to ask Congress soon after next week’s inauguration to pass a bill authorizing spending to repair the country’s crumbling roads, highways and bridges, including $50 billion for 2021.

The cost to the federal government of the $600 stimulus checks recently distributed to Americans was about $140 billion. Biden’s plan to distribute additional $1,400 checks raises the cost by about $324 billion. The remaining amount in Biden’s plan presumably would be spent over a 10-year period, in line with the program he outlined when he was running for president.

Last August, we looked at four U.S.-based, publicly traded firms that stood to benefit from Biden’s infrastructure proposal. Since then, shares of these firms have increased by as much as 76%. Can their share prices rise even more?

Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) provides engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and maintenance services to customers in a variety of industries. According to a report at Construction Dive, Fluor is the top construction firm in the petroleum and industrial sector. Since our August review, Fluor’s stock has risen by 64%.

Fluor’s 52-week trading range is $2.85 to $20.90, and the stock traded near $20.80 Thursday morning. With a price target of $17.13, the shares appear to be overvalued, with the stock trading at nearly 19 times expected 2021 earnings. Fluor does not pay a dividend.

AECOM (NYSE: ACM) is a Los Angeles-based EPC firm whose projects include bridges, sports stadiums, ports and buildings. AECOM reportedly has captured about 25% of federal spending on COVID-19 response work. The company’s stock has added more than 38% since August.

Its 52-week price range is $21.76 to $55.73, and shares traded Thursday at around $53.75. With a price target of $58.89, the implied upside on the stock is about 8.5%, and shares trade at a multiple of around 20 times expected 2021 earnings. The company does not pay a dividend.

KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) is a Houston-based EPC company with a significant presence in aerospace, defense and energy projects. The company operates in two segments (Government Solutions and Technology Solutions) after having folded its Energy Solutions segment into the technology portion of the business. KBR stock has added 34% since August.

KBR stock traded at around $32.20 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $12.00 to $32.18. The high was posted in the noon hour. The consensus price target on the stock is $32.89, implying a potential upside of just 2.2% with shares trading at about 15.5 times expected 2021 earnings. KBR pays a $0.40 annual dividend (yield of 1.27%).

Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE: GVA) operates in four construction segments: transportation, water, specialty construction and materials. The company withdrew 2020 guidance in May and has not filed its reports for the second or third quarters as it investigates earlier financial reports. The company’s stock has risen by nearly 22% since August.

Granite’s stock traded Thursday at around $34.30, up about 2.8% for the day, in a 52-week range of $8.90 to $34.90. The mean price target on the stock is $15.00, indicating that the stock is seriously overvalued. The stock trades at more than 21 times expected 2021 earnings. The company pays an annual dividend of $0.52 (yield of 1.51%).