James Hardie Industries (JHX) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, JHX or VMC?

James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.75, meaning that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in JHX or VMC?

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is JHX or VMC more profitable?

Vulcan Materials has a net margin of 12.50% compared to James Hardie Industries' net margin of 10.94%. James Hardie Industries' return on equity of 31.52% beat Vulcan Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
James Hardie Industries	10.94%	31.52%	12.86%
Vulcan Materials	12.50%	12.91%	6.61%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, JHX or VMC?

Vulcan Materials has higher revenue and earnings than James Hardie Industries. James Hardie Industries 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
James Hardie Industries	$3.88B	2.90	$424M	$0.98	26.66
Vulcan Materials	$7.42B	4.66	$911.90M	$7.05	37.09

Do analysts rate JHX or VMC?

James Hardie Industries presently has a consensus target price of $37.34, suggesting a potential upside of 42.93%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus target price of $302.91, suggesting a potential upside of 15.85%. Given James Hardie Industries' higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than Vulcan Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James Hardie Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media refer more to JHX or VMC?

In the previous week, Vulcan Materials had 7 more articles in the media than James Hardie Industries. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Vulcan Materials and 11 mentions for James Hardie Industries. Vulcan Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat James Hardie Industries' score of 0.45 indicating that Vulcan Materials is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
James Hardie Industries	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Vulcan Materials	11 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats James Hardie Industries on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.