Vulcan Materials (VMC) Competitors

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) and Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) are both construction companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Do analysts prefer VMC or STRL?

Vulcan Materials presently has a consensus price target of $304.27, suggesting a potential upside of 4.13%. Sterling Infrastructure has a consensus price target of $355.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.11%. Given Sterling Infrastructure's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sterling Infrastructure is more favorable than Vulcan Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Sterling Infrastructure	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has better earnings and valuation, VMC or STRL?

Vulcan Materials has higher revenue and earnings than Sterling Infrastructure. Sterling Infrastructure 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
Vulcan Materials	$7.42B	5.20	$911.90M	$7.16	40.81
Sterling Infrastructure	$2.12B	4.43	$257.46M	$9.20	33.52

Does the media prefer VMC or STRL?

In the previous week, Sterling Infrastructure had 9 more articles in the media than Vulcan Materials. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for Sterling Infrastructure and 21 mentions for Vulcan Materials. Vulcan Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat Sterling Infrastructure's score of 1.01 indicating that Vulcan Materials is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Vulcan Materials	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Sterling Infrastructure	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of VMC or STRL?

90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.0% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is VMC or STRL more profitable?

Sterling Infrastructure has a net margin of 13.33% compared to Vulcan Materials' net margin of 12.52%. Sterling Infrastructure's return on equity of 27.93% beat Vulcan Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vulcan Materials	12.52%	12.81%	6.41%
Sterling Infrastructure	13.33%	27.93%	11.18%

Which has more risk and volatility, VMC or STRL?

Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sterling Infrastructure has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vulcan Materials and Sterling Infrastructure tied by winning 8 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.