Reviewing A.M. Castle & Co. (OTCMKTS:CTAM) & Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX)

A.M. Castle & Co. (OTCMKTS:CTAM) and Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for A.M. Castle & Co. and Northwest Pipe, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A.M. Castle & Co.	0	0	0	0	N/A
Northwest Pipe	0	0	1	0	3.00

Northwest Pipe has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.77%. Given Northwest Pipe’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Northwest Pipe is more favorable than A.M. Castle & Co..

Profitability

This table compares A.M. Castle & Co. and Northwest Pipe’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A.M. Castle & Co.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northwest Pipe	4.74%	6.36%	3.55%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.6% of Northwest Pipe shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Northwest Pipe shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares A.M. Castle & Co. and Northwest Pipe’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
A.M. Castle & Co.	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northwest Pipe	$444.36 million	0.73	$21.07 million	$2.09	15.59

Northwest Pipe has higher revenue and earnings than A.M. Castle & Co..

Summary

Northwest Pipe beats A.M. Castle & Co. on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About A.M. Castle & Co.

A.M. Castle & Co. engages in the distribution of specialty metals and supply chain services. The firm serves the producer equipment, commercial and military aircraft, heavy equipment, industrial goods, and construction equipment sectors. Its products include alloy and stainless steels, nickel alloys, aluminum, titanium, and carbon. The company was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Oak Brook, IL.

About Northwest Pipe

Northwest Pipe Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of water-related infrastructure products in North America. It operates in two segments, Engineered Steel Pressure Pipe (SPP) and Precast Infrastructure and Engineered Systems (Precast). The SPP segment offers large-diameter and high-pressure steel pipeline systems for use in water infrastructure applications, which are primarily related to drinking water systems. Its products are also used for hydroelectric power systems, wastewater systems, seismic resiliency, and other applications. In addition, this segment makes products for industrial plant piping systems and certain structural applications. The Precast segment provides stormwater and wastewater technology products, precast, and reinforced concrete products, including reinforced concrete pipe, manholes, box culverts, vaults and catch basins, pump lift stations, oil water separators, biofiltration units, steel casing pipes, and bar-wrapped concrete cylinder pipes, as well as pipeline system joints, fittings, specialized components, and other environmental and engineered solutions. The company sells its water infrastructure products under ParkUSA, Geneva Pipe and Precast, Permalok, and Northwest Pipe Company brands primarily to installation contractors. Northwest Pipe Company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington.