United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) Competitors

United States Lime & Minerals (NASDAQ:USLM) and James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) are both construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, USLM or JHX?

United States Lime & Minerals has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.75, suggesting that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in USLM or JHX?

27.1% of United States Lime & Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of United States Lime & Minerals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate USLM or JHX?

James Hardie Industries has a consensus price target of $39.12, indicating a potential upside of 35.96%. Given James Hardie Industries' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than United States Lime & Minerals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United States Lime & Minerals	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
James Hardie Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Does the media prefer USLM or JHX?

In the previous week, James Hardie Industries had 14 more articles in the media than United States Lime & Minerals. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for James Hardie Industries and 1 mentions for United States Lime & Minerals. United States Lime & Minerals' average media sentiment score of 0.97 beat James Hardie Industries' score of 0.36 indicating that United States Lime & Minerals is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
United States Lime & Minerals	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
James Hardie Industries	2 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has higher valuation and earnings, USLM or JHX?

James Hardie Industries has higher revenue and earnings than United States Lime & Minerals. United States Lime & Minerals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than James Hardie Industries, 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
United States Lime & Minerals	$317.72M	9.46	$108.84M	$4.20	24.98
James Hardie Industries	$3.88B	3.19	$424M	$0.98	29.36

Is USLM or JHX more profitable?

United States Lime & Minerals has a net margin of 35.74% compared to James Hardie Industries' net margin of 10.94%. James Hardie Industries' return on equity of 31.52% beat United States Lime & Minerals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United States Lime & Minerals	35.74%	24.79%	22.59%
James Hardie Industries	10.94%	31.52%	12.86%

Summary

James Hardie Industries beats United States Lime & Minerals on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.