CEMEX (CX) Competitors

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) and Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) are both construction companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Which has more volatility and risk, CX or VMC?

CEMEX has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in CX or VMC?

Vulcan Materials received 86 more outperform votes than CEMEX when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.90% of users gave Vulcan Materials an outperform vote while only 63.43% of users gave CEMEX an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
CEMEX	Outperform Votes 548 63.43%	Underperform Votes 316 36.57%
Vulcan Materials	Outperform Votes 634 65.90%	Underperform Votes 328 34.10%

Does the media favor CX or VMC?

In the previous week, Vulcan Materials had 28 more articles in the media than CEMEX. MarketBeat recorded 47 mentions for Vulcan Materials and 19 mentions for CEMEX. Vulcan Materials' average media sentiment score of 0.99 beat CEMEX's score of 0.46 indicating that Vulcan Materials is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CEMEX	4 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Vulcan Materials	27 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in CX or VMC?

83.0% of CEMEX shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of CEMEX shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CX or VMC more profitable?

Vulcan Materials has a net margin of 12.30% compared to CEMEX's net margin of 5.70%. Vulcan Materials' return on equity of 12.83% beat CEMEX's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CEMEX	5.70%	7.78%	3.41%
Vulcan Materials	12.30%	12.83%	6.74%

Is CX or VMC a better dividend stock?

CEMEX pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Vulcan Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. CEMEX pays out 12.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vulcan Materials pays out 28.6% 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. Vulcan Materials has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. CEMEX is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer CX or VMC?

CEMEX currently has a consensus target price of $7.58, indicating a potential upside of 23.81%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus target price of $293.64, indicating a potential upside of 11.38%. Given CEMEX's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe CEMEX is more favorable than Vulcan Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CEMEX	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.93

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, CX or VMC?

CEMEX has higher revenue and earnings than Vulcan Materials. CEMEX is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vulcan Materials, 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
CEMEX	$16.20B	0.55	$938.81M	$0.63	9.71
Vulcan Materials	$7.42B	4.70	$933.20M	$6.85	38.49

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats CEMEX on 15 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.