Eagle Materials (EXP) Competitors

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) and Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) are both construction companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, community ranking, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Is JHX or EXP a better dividend stock?

James Hardie Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Eagle Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. James Hardie Industries pays out 21.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eagle Materials pays out 7.3% 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.

Which has more volatility & risk, JHX or EXP?

James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.73, suggesting that its stock price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eagle Materials has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer JHX or EXP?

James Hardie Industries presently has a consensus price target of $39.12, indicating a potential upside of 44.09%. Eagle Materials has a consensus price target of $254.44, indicating a potential upside of 28.69%. Given James Hardie Industries' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than Eagle Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James Hardie Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Eagle Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30

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

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Eagle Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Eagle Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer JHX or EXP?

In the previous week, James Hardie Industries and James Hardie Industries both had 6 articles in the media. Eagle Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.70 beat James Hardie Industries' score of 0.47 indicating that Eagle Materials is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
James Hardie Industries	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Eagle Materials	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is JHX or EXP more profitable?

Eagle Materials has a net margin of 20.91% compared to James Hardie Industries' net margin of 11.15%. Eagle Materials' return on equity of 34.14% beat James Hardie Industries' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
James Hardie Industries	11.15%	33.65%	13.44%
Eagle Materials	20.91%	34.14%	15.69%

Which has better earnings & valuation, JHX or EXP?

James Hardie Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Eagle Materials. Eagle Materials 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
James Hardie Industries	$3.88B	3.01	$510.20M	$0.98	27.70
Eagle Materials	$2.26B	2.86	$477.64M	$13.76	14.37

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in JHX or EXP?

Eagle Materials received 196 more outperform votes than James Hardie Industries when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.42% of users gave Eagle Materials an outperform vote while only 61.11% of users gave James Hardie Industries an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
James Hardie Industries	Outperform Votes 253 61.11%	Underperform Votes 161 38.89%
Eagle Materials	Outperform Votes 449 63.42%	Underperform Votes 259 36.58%

Summary

Eagle Materials beats James Hardie Industries on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.