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Jacobs (J) Wins River Restoration Deal From Affinity Water

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Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (J - Free Report) has received a management, appraisal, modelling and design contract from Affinity Water to support the latter’s river restoration schemes across the catchments in England.

Per the deal, Jacobs will support Affinity Water to meet its sustainable water usage drive by reducing impurities in the water environment through river restoration and improvements. Also, it will help Affinity Water to meet the environmental regulation obligations.

Jacobs’ multidisciplinary team — which includes fluvial geomorphologists, aquatic ecologists, hydrologists, hydraulic modelers, engineers, stakeholder engagement and environmental assessment professionals — will work together with Affinity Water and other River Restoration Framework partners to revitalize south of England’s 14 river catchments from 2020 to 2025. Affinity Water estimates the contract value at $4 million.

Jacobs’ People & Places Solutions (P&PS) senior vice president and general manager, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Donald Morrison said, "The program of restoration works will help to improve water quality, geomorphological processes, numbers and diversity of fish and other aquatic species, and will improve community access and connectivity with the rivers and riparian habitat."

Exceptional Project Execution Strategy to Support Growth

Jacobs’ P&PS business — which accounted for almost 65% of total revenues — serves clients of broad sectors like water, transportation, building and semiconductors.

Recently, the segment received a contract from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) to design and manage the solid waste, recycling and hazardous waste compliance program. Jacobs’ support will enable LA Metro in achieving its zero-waste goal in the transportation industry, without compromising on efficient and effective movement of people.

Efficient project execution has been primarily driving Jacobs’ performance over the last few quarters. The company’s solid backlog level reflects continued 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.



Its shares have outperformed the industry in the year-to-date period. The solid 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.

Despite coronavirus-related disruptions, 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 - Free Report) , AECOM (ACM - Free Report) and KBR, Inc. (KBR - Free Report) in the same industry — currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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

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