CRH (CRH) Competitors

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

Does the media favor EXP or CRH?

In the previous week, CRH had 9 more articles in the media than Eagle Materials. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for CRH and 16 mentions for Eagle Materials. CRH's average media sentiment score of 1.56 beat Eagle Materials' score of 0.81 indicating that CRH is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Eagle Materials	11 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
CRH	22 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in EXP or CRH?

96.1% of Eagle Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of CRH shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Eagle Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is EXP or CRH a better dividend stock?

Eagle Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. CRH pays an annual dividend of $1.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Eagle Materials pays out 7.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CRH pays out 37.2% 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, EXP or CRH?

Eagle Materials has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CRH has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EXP or CRH more profitable?

Eagle Materials has a net margin of 21.32% compared to CRH's net margin of 9.86%. Eagle Materials' return on equity of 35.79% beat CRH's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Materials	21.32%	35.79%	16.18%
CRH	9.86%	16.35%	7.25%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer EXP or CRH?

CRH received 43 more outperform votes than Eagle Materials when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.31% of users gave Eagle Materials an outperform vote while only 56.81% of users gave CRH an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Eagle Materials	Outperform Votes 445 64.31%	Underperform Votes 247 35.69%
CRH	Outperform Votes 488 56.81%	Underperform Votes 371 43.19%

Do analysts prefer EXP or CRH?

Eagle Materials currently has a consensus target price of $307.11, indicating a potential upside of 1.14%. CRH has a consensus target price of $106.42, indicating a potential upside of 3.86%. Given CRH's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe CRH is more favorable than Eagle Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
CRH	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has higher valuation & earnings, EXP or CRH?

CRH has higher revenue and earnings than Eagle Materials. CRH is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eagle 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
Eagle Materials	$2.26B	4.51	$477.64M	$14.16	21.44
CRH	$35.39B	1.97	$3.18B	$5.00	20.49

Summary

Eagle Materials beats CRH on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.