Commercial Metals (CMC) Competitors

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Is CMC or STLD more profitable?

Steel Dynamics has a net margin of 6.07% compared to Commercial Metals' net margin of 0.48%. Steel Dynamics' return on equity of 11.88% beat Commercial Metals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commercial Metals	0.48%	7.45%	4.49%
Steel Dynamics	6.07%	11.88%	6.71%

Do analysts prefer CMC or STLD?

Commercial Metals presently has a consensus target price of $58.81, indicating a potential upside of 2.75%. Steel Dynamics has a consensus target price of $148.70, indicating a potential upside of 15.25%. Given Steel Dynamics' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Steel Dynamics is more favorable than Commercial Metals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commercial Metals	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56
Steel Dynamics	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Does the media prefer CMC or STLD?

In the previous week, Steel Dynamics had 1 more articles in the media than Commercial Metals. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Steel Dynamics and 9 mentions for Commercial Metals. Steel Dynamics' average media sentiment score of 1.68 beat Commercial Metals' score of 0.87 indicating that Steel Dynamics is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Commercial Metals	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Steel Dynamics	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, CMC or STLD?

Steel Dynamics has higher revenue and earnings than Commercial Metals. Steel Dynamics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Commercial Metals, 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
Commercial Metals	$7.93B	0.81	$485.49M	$0.31	184.64
Steel Dynamics	$17.54B	1.08	$1.54B	$6.86	18.81

Which has more risk and volatility, CMC or STLD?

Commercial Metals has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Steel Dynamics has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CMC or STLD a better dividend stock?

Commercial Metals pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Steel Dynamics pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Commercial Metals pays out 232.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Steel Dynamics pays out 29.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Commercial Metals has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Steel Dynamics has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Steel Dynamics is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in CMC or STLD?

86.9% of Commercial Metals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of Steel Dynamics shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Commercial Metals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Steel Dynamics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Steel Dynamics beats Commercial Metals on 17 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.