James Hardie Industries (JHX) Competitors

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

Is VMC or JHX a better dividend stock?

Vulcan Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. James Hardie Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Vulcan Materials pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. James Hardie Industries pays out 20.8% 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 raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Vulcan Materials is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is VMC or JHX more profitable?

Vulcan Materials has a net margin of 12.30% compared to James Hardie Industries' net margin of 11.15%. James Hardie Industries' return on equity of 34.42% beat Vulcan Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vulcan Materials	12.30%	12.83%	6.74%
James Hardie Industries	11.15%	34.42%	13.41%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer VMC or JHX?

Vulcan Materials received 377 more outperform votes than James Hardie Industries when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.83% of users gave Vulcan Materials an outperform vote while only 61.63% of users gave James Hardie Industries an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Vulcan Materials	Outperform Votes 626 65.83%	Underperform Votes 325 34.17%
James Hardie Industries	Outperform Votes 249 61.63%	Underperform Votes 155 38.37%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, VMC or JHX?

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
Vulcan Materials	$7.42B	4.50	$933.20M	$6.85	36.89
James Hardie Industries	$3.91B	3.49	$510.20M	$1.01	31.40

Does the media favor VMC or JHX?

In the previous week, Vulcan Materials had 20 more articles in the media than James Hardie Industries. MarketBeat recorded 38 mentions for Vulcan Materials and 18 mentions for James Hardie Industries. Vulcan Materials' average media sentiment score of 0.89 beat James Hardie Industries' score of 0.61 indicating that Vulcan Materials is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Vulcan Materials	18 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	17 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
James Hardie Industries	4 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of VMC or JHX?

90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, VMC or JHX?

Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.81, indicating that its stock price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate VMC or JHX?

Vulcan Materials presently has a consensus target price of $305.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.71%. James Hardie Industries has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.89%. Given James Hardie Industries' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than Vulcan Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73
James Hardie Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats James Hardie Industries on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.