Advertisement

Jacobs (J) Set to Serve Chicago's Rock Island Connection

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. J has received a contract from Metra to provide engineering and design services for the Rock Island Connection or P2.

Notably, P2 is part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program's 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project (75th St. CIP).

Through this project, Jacobs will have the opportunity to collaborate with nine Disadvantaged Business Enterprise or DBE firms to make a positive impact on the 75th St. Corridor community. The company’s People & Places Solutions Executive Vice President Ken Gilmartin said, "Seven of the nine firms are based in Chicago, and together, we can create an extraordinary vision to revitalize the area – including infrastructure enhancements, aesthetics and landscape architecture in the impacted construction space, as well as critical, local workforce development opportunities."

Jacobs is one of the leading providers of professional, technical, and construction services to industrial, commercial as well as government clients. The People & Places Solutions or P&PS line of business serves clients of broad sectors like water, transportation, building and semiconductors. Notably, the P&PS business line accounts for nearly 63% of the company’s total revenues.

Efficient project execution has been one of the main characteristics driving Jacobs’ performance over the last few quarters. The company’s solid backlog level reflects persistently strong demand for consulting services. Backlog at fiscal third quarter-end was $23.7 billion, reflecting an increase of 5.4% year over year (up 4% on a pro-forma basis). This reflects persistent solid demand for Jacobs' consulting services. Notably, P&PS backlog was up 4.3% year over year for the quarter to $14.6 billion.

Share Performance

 

Jacobs’ shares have outperformed the industry in the year-to-date period. The price performance was backed by an impressive earnings surprise history. The company surpassed earnings estimates in 10 of the trailing 12 quarters. The trend is expected to continue in the near term, courtesy of its solid performance for the first nine months of fiscal 2020 despite disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Although coronavirus-related disruptions are likely to hurt Jacobs’ performance in the fiscal fourth quarter and create challenges in early fiscal 2021, it raised its adjusted EBITDA and EPS guidance for fiscal 2020, based on fiscal third-quarter performance and the initial view for the fiscal fourth quarter.

Zacks Rank

Jacobs — which shares space with Quanta Services, Inc. PWR, AECOM ACM and KBR, Inc. KBR in the same industry — currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce ""the world's first trillionaires,"" but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
AECOM (ACM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
KBR, Inc. (KBR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (J) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research