Vulcan Materials (VMC) Competitors

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

Does the media favor CRH or VMC?

In the previous week, Vulcan Materials had 18 more articles in the media than CRH. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Vulcan Materials and 26 mentions for CRH. CRH's average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat Vulcan Materials' score of 1.08 indicating that CRH is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CRH	21 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Vulcan Materials	26 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CRH or VMC a better dividend stock?

CRH pays an annual dividend of $1.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Vulcan Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. CRH pays out 22.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vulcan Materials pays out 28.6% 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 raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. CRH is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

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

62.5% of CRH shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of CRH shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are held 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in CRH or VMC?

Vulcan Materials received 141 more outperform votes than CRH when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.90% of users gave Vulcan Materials an outperform vote while only 56.93% of users gave CRH an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
CRH	Outperform Votes 493 56.93%	Underperform Votes 373 43.07%
Vulcan Materials	Outperform Votes 634 65.90%	Underperform Votes 328 34.10%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, CRH or VMC?

CRH has higher revenue and earnings than Vulcan Materials. CRH 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
CRH	$35.57B	1.81	$3.18B	$5.03	18.97
Vulcan Materials	$7.42B	4.68	$933.20M	$6.85	38.34

Is CRH or VMC more profitable?

Vulcan Materials has a net margin of 12.30% compared to CRH's net margin of 9.86%. CRH's return on equity of 16.35% beat Vulcan Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CRH	9.86%	16.35%	7.25%
Vulcan Materials	12.30%	12.83%	6.74%

Which has more volatility and risk, CRH or VMC?

CRH has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate CRH or VMC?

CRH presently has a consensus target price of $112.36, indicating a potential upside of 17.77%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus target price of $293.64, indicating a potential upside of 11.80%. Given CRH's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe CRH is more favorable than Vulcan Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CRH	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.09
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.93

Summary

CRH and Vulcan Materials tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.