CRH (CRH) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, CRH or VMC?

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

Does the media favor CRH or VMC?

In the previous week, CRH had 10 more articles in the media than Vulcan Materials. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for CRH and 16 mentions for Vulcan Materials. CRH's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat Vulcan Materials' score of 1.12 indicating that CRH is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CRH	22 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Vulcan Materials	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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%

Do analysts rate CRH or VMC?

CRH currently has a consensus target price of $109.64, indicating a potential upside of 15.86%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus target price of $302.67, indicating a potential upside of 27.72%. Given Vulcan Materials' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Vulcan Materials is more favorable than CRH.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CRH	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

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

62.5% of CRH shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CRH or VMC?

Vulcan Materials received 138 more outperform votes than CRH when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.86% of users gave Vulcan Materials an outperform vote while only 56.83% of users gave CRH an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
CRH	Outperform Votes 491 56.83%	Underperform Votes 373 43.17%
Vulcan Materials	Outperform Votes 629 65.86%	Underperform Votes 326 34.14%

Is CRH or VMC a better dividend stock?

CRH pays an annual dividend of $0.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Vulcan Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. CRH pays out 15.5% 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 increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Vulcan Materials is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better 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	1.80	$3.18B	$5.03	18.81
Vulcan Materials	$7.42B	4.22	$933.20M	$6.85	34.59

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats CRH on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.