Crest Nicholson (CRST) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer CRST or CRN?

Crest Nicholson currently has a consensus target price of GBX 202.50, suggesting a potential upside of 19.05%. Cairn Homes has a consensus target price of GBX 175, suggesting a potential downside of 8.38%. Given Crest Nicholson's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Crest Nicholson is more favorable than Cairn Homes.

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

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of CRST or CRN?

97.5% of Crest Nicholson shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.1% of Cairn Homes shares are held by institutional investors. 9.5% of Crest Nicholson shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of Cairn Homes shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor CRST or CRN?

In the previous week, Crest Nicholson had 1 more articles in the media than Cairn Homes. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for Crest Nicholson and 0 mentions for Cairn Homes. Crest Nicholson's average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat Cairn Homes' score of 0.00 indicating that Crest Nicholson is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Crest Nicholson	Positive
Cairn Homes	Neutral

Is CRST or CRN a better dividend stock?

Crest Nicholson pays an annual dividend of GBX 13 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.6%. Cairn Homes pays an annual dividend of GBX 6 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Crest Nicholson pays out -125.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cairn Homes pays out 42.0% 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. Crest Nicholson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is CRST or CRN 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
Crest Nicholson	-4.21%	-3.47%	0.16%
Cairn Homes	13.72%	14.73%	7.83%

Which has more volatility and risk, CRST or CRN?

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

Which has higher valuation & earnings, CRST or CRN?

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
Crest Nicholson	£632.51M	0.69	-£26.61M	-£10.39	-16.38
Cairn Homes	£928.63M	1.53	£127.43M	£14.30	13.36

Summary

Cairn Homes beats Crest Nicholson on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.