Martin Marietta Materials (MLM) Competitors

CRH (NYSE:CRH) and Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) are both large-cap construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Which has more risk and volatility, CRH or MLM?

CRH has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Martin Marietta Materials has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate CRH or MLM?

CRH presently has a consensus price target of $114.18, indicating a potential upside of 19.88%. Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus price target of $603.86, indicating a potential upside of 8.24%. Given CRH's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe CRH is more favorable than Martin Marietta Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CRH	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Martin Marietta Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.94

Does the media refer more to CRH or MLM?

In the previous week, CRH had 4 more articles in the media than Martin Marietta Materials. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for CRH and 18 mentions for Martin Marietta Materials. Martin Marietta Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat CRH's score of 0.92 indicating that Martin Marietta Materials is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CRH	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Martin Marietta Materials	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, CRH or MLM?

CRH has higher revenue and earnings than Martin Marietta Materials. CRH 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
CRH	$35.80B	1.80	$3.46B	$4.72	20.18
Martin Marietta Materials	$6.54B	5.15	$2.00B	$17.36	32.14

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of CRH or MLM?

62.5% of CRH shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.0% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of CRH shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is CRH or MLM more profitable?

Martin Marietta Materials has a net margin of 16.07% compared to CRH's net margin of 9.17%. CRH's return on equity of 15.88% beat Martin Marietta Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CRH	9.17%	15.88%	6.95%
Martin Marietta Materials	16.07%	12.01%	6.39%

Is CRH or MLM a better dividend stock?

CRH pays an annual dividend of $1.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Martin Marietta Materials pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. CRH pays out 23.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Martin Marietta Materials 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 increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years.

Summary

Martin Marietta Materials beats CRH on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.