Martin Marietta Materials (MLM) Competitors

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) and CRH (NYSE:CRH) are both large-cap construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and media sentiment.

Is MLM or CRH more profitable?

Martin Marietta Materials has a net margin of 30.54% compared to CRH's net margin of 9.86%. CRH's return on equity of 16.35% beat Martin Marietta Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Martin Marietta Materials	30.54%	12.11%	6.55%
CRH	9.86%	16.35%	7.25%

Does the media refer more to MLM or CRH?

In the previous week, Martin Marietta Materials had 7 more articles in the media than CRH. MarketBeat recorded 32 mentions for Martin Marietta Materials and 25 mentions for CRH. CRH's average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat Martin Marietta Materials' score of 1.16 indicating that CRH is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Martin Marietta Materials	23 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
CRH	20 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, MLM or CRH?

CRH has higher revenue and earnings than Martin Marietta Materials. Martin Marietta Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CRH, 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	$6.54B	4.58	$2.00B	$32.33	15.17
CRH	$35.57B	1.86	$3.18B	$5.03	19.47

Which has more risk and volatility, MLM or CRH?

Martin Marietta Materials has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CRH has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MLM or CRH?

Martin Marietta Materials received 19 more outperform votes than CRH when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.67% of users gave Martin Marietta Materials an outperform vote while only 56.83% of users gave CRH an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Martin Marietta Materials	Outperform Votes 510 63.67%	Underperform Votes 291 36.33%
CRH	Outperform Votes 491 56.83%	Underperform Votes 373 43.17%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of MLM or CRH?

95.0% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of CRH shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MLM or CRH a better dividend stock?

Martin Marietta Materials pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. CRH pays an annual dividend of $0.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Martin Marietta Materials pays out 9.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CRH pays out 15.5% 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.

Do analysts rate MLM or CRH?

Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus target price of $628.64, indicating a potential upside of 28.16%. CRH has a consensus target price of $109.64, indicating a potential upside of 11.95%. Given Martin Marietta Materials' higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Martin Marietta Materials is more favorable than CRH.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Martin Marietta Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.94
CRH	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Martin Marietta Materials beats CRH on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.