Core & Main (CNM) Competitors

Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) and Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and media sentiment.

Do analysts recommend CNM or FERG?

Core & Main currently has a consensus price target of $60.00, indicating a potential downside of 4.25%. Ferguson has a consensus price target of $220.64, indicating a potential downside of 0.56%. Given Ferguson's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ferguson is more favorable than Core & Main.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Core & Main	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.45
Ferguson	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CNM or FERG?

94.2% of Core & Main shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Ferguson shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Core & Main shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Ferguson shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, CNM or FERG?

Core & Main has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ferguson has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer CNM or FERG?

In the previous week, Ferguson had 29 more articles in the media than Core & Main. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Ferguson and 15 mentions for Core & Main. Core & Main's average media sentiment score of 0.91 beat Ferguson's score of 0.65 indicating that Core & Main is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Core & Main	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ferguson	19 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, CNM or FERG?

Ferguson has higher revenue and earnings than Core & Main. Ferguson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Core & Main, 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
Core & Main	$7.44B	1.66	$411M	$2.15	29.14
Ferguson	$30.21B	1.45	$1.74B	$8.02	27.67

Is CNM or FERG more profitable?

Ferguson has a net margin of 5.68% compared to Core & Main's net margin of 5.47%. Ferguson's return on equity of 34.63% beat Core & Main's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Core & Main	5.47%	23.55%	6.80%
Ferguson	5.68%	34.63%	11.73%

Summary

Ferguson beats Core & Main on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.