Martin Marietta Materials (MLM) Competitors

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) and Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI) are both construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of MLM or AWI?

95.0% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.9% of Armstrong World Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Armstrong World Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MLM or AWI more profitable?

Armstrong World Industries has a net margin of 18.95% compared to Martin Marietta Materials' net margin of 16.47%. Armstrong World Industries' return on equity of 39.80% beat Martin Marietta Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Martin Marietta Materials	16.47%	11.88%	6.25%
Armstrong World Industries	18.95%	39.80%	16.79%

Which has more volatility & risk, MLM or AWI?

Martin Marietta Materials has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Armstrong World Industries has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend MLM or AWI?

Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus price target of $622.63, suggesting a potential upside of 2.57%. Armstrong World Industries has a consensus price target of $177.13, suggesting a potential downside of 10.23%. Given Martin Marietta Materials' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Martin Marietta Materials is more favorable than Armstrong World Industries.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Martin Marietta Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89
Armstrong World Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is MLM or AWI a better dividend stock?

Martin Marietta Materials pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Armstrong World Industries pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Martin Marietta Materials pays out 17.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Armstrong World Industries pays out 18.2% 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. Martin Marietta Materials has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years and Armstrong World Industries has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, MLM or AWI?

Martin Marietta Materials has higher revenue and earnings than Armstrong World Industries. Armstrong World Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Martin Marietta 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
Martin Marietta Materials	$6.54B	5.60	$2.00B	$18.03	33.67
Armstrong World Industries	$1.45B	5.90	$264.90M	$6.76	29.19

Does the media favor MLM or AWI?

In the previous week, Martin Marietta Materials had 16 more articles in the media than Armstrong World Industries. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Martin Marietta Materials and 15 mentions for Armstrong World Industries. Armstrong World Industries' average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Martin Marietta Materials' score of 1.39 indicating that Armstrong World Industries is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Martin Marietta Materials	27 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Armstrong World Industries	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Martin Marietta Materials beats Armstrong World Industries on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.