CEMEX (CX) Competitors

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) and CEMEX (NYSE:CX) are both construction companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of JHX or CX?

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of CEMEX shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of CEMEX shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is JHX or CX more profitable?

James Hardie Industries has a net margin of 11.16% compared to CEMEX's net margin of 2.67%. James Hardie Industries' return on equity of 36.30% beat CEMEX's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
James Hardie Industries	11.16%	36.30%	14.10%
CEMEX	2.67%	2.28%	0.98%

Does the media refer more to JHX or CX?

In the previous week, James Hardie Industries had 5 more articles in the media than CEMEX. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for James Hardie Industries and 5 mentions for CEMEX. James Hardie Industries' average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat CEMEX's score of 0.18 indicating that James Hardie Industries is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
James Hardie Industries	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
CEMEX	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in JHX or CX?

CEMEX received 302 more outperform votes than James Hardie Industries when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.01% of users gave CEMEX an outperform vote while only 61.46% of users gave James Hardie Industries an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
James Hardie Industries	Outperform Votes 244 61.46%	Underperform Votes 153 38.54%
CEMEX	Outperform Votes 546 64.01%	Underperform Votes 307 35.99%

Which has more volatility & risk, JHX or CX?

James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.76, suggesting that its share price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CEMEX has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend JHX or CX?

James Hardie Industries currently has a consensus price target of $35.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.80%. CEMEX has a consensus price target of $7.82, indicating a potential upside of 42.90%. Given CEMEX's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CEMEX is more favorable than James Hardie Industries.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James Hardie Industries	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
CEMEX	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has higher valuation and earnings, JHX or CX?

James Hardie Industries has higher earnings, but lower revenue than CEMEX. CEMEX is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than James Hardie Industries, 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
James Hardie Industries	$3.94B	3.94	$510.20M	$1.01	35.79
CEMEX	$17.42B	0.46	$182M	$0.30	18.23

Summary

James Hardie Industries beats CEMEX on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.