CEMEX (CX) Competitors

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

Which has better earnings and valuation, CX or VMC?

CEMEX has higher revenue and earnings than Vulcan Materials. CEMEX 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
CEMEX	$16.20B	0.56	$938.81M	$0.63	10.00
Vulcan Materials	$7.42B	4.29	$933.20M	$6.85	35.18

Is CX or VMC more profitable?

Vulcan Materials has a net margin of 12.30% compared to CEMEX's net margin of 5.70%. Vulcan Materials' return on equity of 12.83% beat CEMEX's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CEMEX	5.70%	7.78%	3.41%
Vulcan Materials	12.30%	12.83%	6.74%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in CX or VMC?

83.0% of CEMEX shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of CEMEX shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is CX or VMC a better dividend stock?

CEMEX pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Vulcan Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. CEMEX pays out 12.7% 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 increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. CEMEX is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer CX or VMC?

CEMEX currently has a consensus target price of $7.82, suggesting a potential upside of 24.07%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus target price of $302.67, suggesting a potential upside of 25.61%. Given Vulcan Materials' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Vulcan Materials is more favorable than CEMEX.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CEMEX	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

Which has more risk and volatility, CX or VMC?

CEMEX has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CX or VMC?

Vulcan Materials received 82 more outperform votes than CEMEX when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.86% of users gave Vulcan Materials an outperform vote while only 63.90% of users gave CEMEX an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
CEMEX	Outperform Votes 547 63.90%	Underperform Votes 309 36.10%
Vulcan Materials	Outperform Votes 629 65.86%	Underperform Votes 326 34.14%

Does the media prefer CX or VMC?

In the previous week, Vulcan Materials had 12 more articles in the media than CEMEX. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Vulcan Materials and 6 mentions for CEMEX. Vulcan Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.20 beat CEMEX's score of 0.53 indicating that Vulcan Materials is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CEMEX	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Vulcan Materials	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats CEMEX on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.