CEMEX (CX) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend MLM or CX?

Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus price target of $648.71, indicating a potential upside of 19.40%. CEMEX has a consensus price target of $7.65, indicating a potential upside of 42.86%. Given CEMEX's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe CEMEX is more favorable than Martin Marietta Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Martin Marietta Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
CEMEX	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the media refer more to MLM or CX?

In the previous week, Martin Marietta Materials had 4 more articles in the media than CEMEX. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Martin Marietta Materials and 5 mentions for CEMEX. Martin Marietta Materials' average media sentiment score of 0.70 beat CEMEX's score of 0.11 indicating that Martin Marietta Materials is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Martin Marietta Materials	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
CEMEX	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is MLM or CX a better dividend stock?

Martin Marietta Materials pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. CEMEX pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Martin Marietta Materials pays out 9.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CEMEX pays out 20.0% 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MLM or CX?

CEMEX received 42 more outperform votes than Martin Marietta Materials when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.93% of users gave CEMEX an outperform vote while only 63.80% of users gave Martin Marietta Materials an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Martin Marietta Materials	Outperform Votes 504 63.80%	Underperform Votes 286 36.20%
CEMEX	Outperform Votes 546 63.93%	Underperform Votes 308 36.07%

Which has more volatility & risk, MLM or CX?

Martin Marietta Materials has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CEMEX has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in MLM or CX?

95.0% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of CEMEX shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of CEMEX shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, MLM or CX?

Martin Marietta Materials has higher earnings, but lower revenue than CEMEX. Martin Marietta Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CEMEX, 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
Martin Marietta Materials	$6.78B	4.90	$1.17B	$32.09	16.93
CEMEX	$17.42B	0.45	$182M	$0.30	17.85

Is MLM or CX more profitable?

Martin Marietta Materials has a net margin of 30.47% compared to CEMEX's net margin of 2.67%. Martin Marietta Materials' return on equity of 12.53% beat CEMEX's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Martin Marietta Materials	30.47%	12.53%	6.82%
CEMEX	2.67%	2.28%	0.98%

Summary

Martin Marietta Materials beats CEMEX on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.