Crest Nicholson (CRST) Competitors

Cairn Homes (LON:CRN) and Crest Nicholson (LON:CRST) are both small-cap consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts prefer CRN or CRST?

Cairn Homes currently has a consensus target price of GBX 200, suggesting a potential upside of 10.38%. Crest Nicholson has a consensus target price of GBX 192.50, suggesting a potential upside of 24.43%. Given Crest Nicholson's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Crest Nicholson is more favorable than Cairn Homes.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cairn Homes	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Crest Nicholson	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has more volatility & risk, CRN or CRST?

Cairn Homes has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crest Nicholson has a beta of 2, suggesting that its stock price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CRN or CRST more profitable?

Cairn Homes has a net margin of 13.72% compared to Crest Nicholson's net margin of -4.21%. Cairn Homes' return on equity of 14.73% beat Crest Nicholson's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cairn Homes	13.72%	14.73%	7.83%
Crest Nicholson	-4.21%	-3.47%	0.16%

Does the media favor CRN or CRST?

In the previous week, Crest Nicholson had 8 more articles in the media than Cairn Homes. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Crest Nicholson and 0 mentions for Cairn Homes. Crest Nicholson's average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat Cairn Homes' score of 0.00 indicating that Crest Nicholson is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Cairn Homes	Neutral
Crest Nicholson	Positive

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, CRN or CRST?

Cairn Homes has higher revenue and earnings than Crest Nicholson. Crest Nicholson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cairn Homes, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cairn Homes	£778.20M	1.44	£127.43M	£0.16	1,154.14
Crest Nicholson	£610.20M	0.65	-£26.61M	-£0.29	-539.02

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CRN or CRST?

71.4% of Cairn Homes shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.4% of Crest Nicholson shares are held by institutional investors. 11.5% of Cairn Homes shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Crest Nicholson shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is CRN or CRST a better dividend stock?

Cairn Homes pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Crest Nicholson pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Cairn Homes pays out 52.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Crest Nicholson pays out -7.7% 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.

Summary

Cairn Homes beats Crest Nicholson on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.