Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) Competitors

Potlatch (NASDAQ:PCH) and Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, PCH or LPX?

Louisiana-Pacific has higher revenue and earnings than Potlatch. Louisiana-Pacific is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Potlatch, 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
Potlatch	$1.06B	3.04	$21.88M	$0.53	78.91
Louisiana-Pacific	$2.88B	2.31	$420M	$4.24	22.55

Is PCH or LPX more profitable?

Louisiana-Pacific has a net margin of 10.34% compared to Potlatch's net margin of 3.94%. Louisiana-Pacific's return on equity of 18.67% beat Potlatch's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Potlatch	3.94%	2.10%	1.29%
Louisiana-Pacific	10.34%	18.67%	12.19%

Is PCH or LPX a better dividend stock?

Potlatch pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Louisiana-Pacific pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Potlatch pays out 339.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Louisiana-Pacific pays out 26.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Louisiana-Pacific has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Does the media refer more to PCH or LPX?

In the previous week, Potlatch and Potlatch both had 10 articles in the media. Louisiana-Pacific's average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat Potlatch's score of 1.26 indicating that Louisiana-Pacific is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Potlatch	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Louisiana-Pacific	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer PCH or LPX?

Potlatch presently has a consensus price target of $50.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.55%. Louisiana-Pacific has a consensus price target of $106.13, indicating a potential upside of 10.98%. Given Potlatch's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Potlatch is more favorable than Louisiana-Pacific.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Potlatch	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Louisiana-Pacific	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Which has more risk and volatility, PCH or LPX?

Potlatch has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Louisiana-Pacific has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in PCH or LPX?

86.1% of Potlatch shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.7% of Louisiana-Pacific shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Potlatch shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Louisiana-Pacific shares are owned 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.

Summary

Louisiana-Pacific beats Potlatch on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.