Vulcan Materials (VMC) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer MLM or VMC?

Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus price target of $634.85, indicating a potential upside of 8.47%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus price target of $280.46, indicating a potential upside of 0.95%. Given Martin Marietta Materials' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Martin Marietta Materials is more favorable than Vulcan Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Martin Marietta Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87
Vulcan Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Which has more volatility & risk, MLM or VMC?

Martin Marietta Materials has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings & valuation, MLM or VMC?

Martin Marietta Materials has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Vulcan Materials. Martin Marietta Materials 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
Martin Marietta Materials	$6.51B	5.49	$1.17B	$32.09	18.24
Vulcan Materials	$7.78B	4.71	$933.20M	$6.34	43.82

Is MLM or VMC a better dividend stock?

Martin Marietta Materials pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Vulcan Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Martin Marietta Materials pays out 9.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vulcan Materials pays out 29.0% 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. Vulcan Materials has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Vulcan Materials is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MLM or VMC?

Vulcan Materials received 126 more outperform votes than Martin Marietta Materials when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.86% of users gave Vulcan Materials an outperform vote while only 63.88% of users gave Martin Marietta Materials an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Martin Marietta Materials	Outperform Votes 497 63.88%	Underperform Votes 281 36.12%
Vulcan Materials	Outperform Votes 623 65.86%	Underperform Votes 323 34.14%

Is MLM or VMC more profitable?

Martin Marietta Materials has a net margin of 30.47% compared to Vulcan Materials' net margin of 11.43%. Martin Marietta Materials' return on equity of 12.53% beat Vulcan Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Martin Marietta Materials	30.47%	12.53%	6.82%
Vulcan Materials	11.43%	11.88%	6.38%

Does the media prefer MLM or VMC?

In the previous week, Vulcan Materials had 2 more articles in the media than Martin Marietta Materials. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Vulcan Materials and 10 mentions for Martin Marietta Materials. Martin Marietta Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat Vulcan Materials' score of 1.08 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	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Vulcan Materials	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

95.0% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Martin Marietta Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Martin Marietta Materials beats Vulcan Materials on 15 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.