Sterling Infrastructure initiated with a Buy at Stifel

Stifel initiated coverage of Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) with a Buy rating and $486 price target As the largest excavating contractor in the U.S., the firm likes Sterling’s “outsized exposure” to secular growth themes, including AI and cloud computing, onshoring, and e-commerce, the analyst tells investors. The firm also sees an opportunity for the valuation discount relative to other specialty engineering and construction peers with similar data center and free cash flow conversion profiles to close over time, the analyst added.