Reviewing Badger Infrastructure Solutions (OTCMKTS:BADFF) and Energy Services of America (NASDAQ:ESOA)

Energy Services of America (NASDAQ:ESOA) and Badger Infrastructure Solutions (OTCMKTS:BADFF) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

2.1% of Energy Services of America shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.1% of Badger Infrastructure Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.7% of Energy Services of America shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Energy Services of America pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Badger Infrastructure Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.39 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Energy Services of America pays out 32.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Badger Infrastructure Solutions pays out 30.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Badger Infrastructure Solutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Energy Services of America and Badger Infrastructure Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Energy Services of America	0	0	0	0	N/A
Badger Infrastructure Solutions	0	1	1	0	2.50

Badger Infrastructure Solutions has a consensus target price of $36.50, suggesting a potential upside of 23.46%. Given Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Badger Infrastructure Solutions is more favorable than Energy Services of America.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Energy Services of America and Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Energy Services of America	$351.68 million	N/A	N/A	$0.18	38.91
Badger Infrastructure Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.28	23.15

Badger Infrastructure Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Energy Services of America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Energy Services of America and Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Energy Services of America	N/A	N/A	N/A
Badger Infrastructure Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Badger Infrastructure Solutions beats Energy Services of America on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Energy Services of America

Energy Services of America Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides contracting services for utilities and energy related companies in the United States. The company constructs, replaces, and repairs interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines and storage facilities for utility companies and private natural gas companies; and provides services relating to pipeline, storage facilities, and plant works. It also offers electrical and mechanical installation, and repair services, including substation and switchyard, site preparation, equipment setting, pipe fabrication and installation, packaged buildings, transformers, and other ancillary works for the gas, petroleum power, chemical, water and sewer, and automotive industries. In addition, the company provides corrosion protection services, horizontal drilling services, liquid pipeline and pump station construction, production facility construction, water and sewer pipeline installation, and various maintenance and repair services, as well as other services related to pipeline construction. Further, it serves customers primarily in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Energy Services of America Corporation was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Huntington, West Virginia.

About Badger Infrastructure Solutions

Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd. provides non-destructive excavating and related services in Canada and the United States. Its Badger Hydrovac technology uses a pressurized water stream to liquefy the soil cover, which is then removed with a vacuum system and deposited into a storage tank. The company offers daylighting services for visual confirmation of buried lines, directional drilling test holes, sacrificial anode installation, pipeline and utility crossings, and subsurface utility engineering test holes applications; and debris removal services for frac tank clean-outs, road and box culvert clean-outs, pipe-rammed casing clean-outs, ballast and filter media removal, and inside structures and buildings material removal. In addition, it provides pipeline excavation services for pipeline crossing and tie-in, hydro probing, utility conflict, and oil and fuel spill applications; slot trenching services; and service repair pits for gas service tie-in, electric cable fault repair, water main and service repair, and telecom splice applications. Further, the company offers anode installation, emergency response, and potholing services; designs, engineers, and supplies excavation shoring systems; pole and piling holes services for utility, traffic signal, and transmission pole holes, as well as light standard and sign post holes; pole removals; end-bearing, pilot holes for friction, and spread footing piles; and well monitor installations applications. It serves the aggregate, construction, engineering, industrial, mining, oil and gas, power generation, transportation, and utility industries, as well as railway hydrovac services. The company was formerly known as Badger Daylighting Ltd. and changed its name to Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd. in May 2021. Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.