Cemex (CX) Competitors

Cemex (NYSE:CX) and Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) are both large-cap construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is CX or VMC more profitable?

Vulcan Materials has a net margin of 12.52% compared to Cemex's net margin of 9.61%. Vulcan Materials' return on equity of 12.81% beat Cemex's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cemex	9.61%	6.89%	3.18%
Vulcan Materials	12.52%	12.81%	6.41%

Do analysts rate CX or VMC?

Cemex currently has a consensus price target of $9.02, suggesting a potential downside of 3.82%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus price target of $308.36, suggesting a potential upside of 4.59%. Given Vulcan Materials' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Vulcan Materials is more favorable than Cemex.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cemex	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk and volatility, CX or VMC?

Cemex has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CX or VMC a better dividend stock?

Cemex pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Vulcan Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cemex pays out 8.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vulcan Materials pays out 27.4% 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.

Does the media refer more to CX or VMC?

In the previous week, Vulcan Materials had 16 more articles in the media than Cemex. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Vulcan Materials and 10 mentions for Cemex. Vulcan Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat Cemex's score of 1.27 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	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Vulcan Materials	23 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has higher 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	0.84	$939M	$1.02	9.20
Vulcan Materials	$7.59B	5.13	$911.90M	$7.16	41.18

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats Cemex on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.