Critical Review: Core & Main (CNM) & The Competition

Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) is one of 158 public companies in the “Trading Companies & Distributors” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Core & Main to similar businesses based on the strength of its profitability, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.2% of Core & Main shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.9% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Core & Main shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.9% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Core & Main has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Core & Main’s rivals have a beta of 1.28, meaning that their average stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Core & Main and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Core & Main	0	6	7	0	2.54
Core & Main Competitors	1420	4866	6658	220	2.43

Core & Main presently has a consensus price target of $56.70, indicating a potential upside of 32.01%. As a group, “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies have a potential upside of 11.18%. Given Core & Main’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Core & Main is more favorable than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Core & Main and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Core & Main	5.87%	26.17%	8.58%
Core & Main Competitors	0.71%	-34.50%	3.15%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Core & Main and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Core & Main	$7.65 billion	$441.00 million	18.20
Core & Main Competitors	$6.53 billion	$365.60 million	20.97

Core & Main has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. Core & Main is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Core & Main beats its rivals on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

Core & Main Company Profile

Core & Main, Inc. is a specialty distributor focused on water, wastewater, storm drainage and fire protection products, and related services. The company provides infrastructure solutions to municipalities, private water companies and professional contractors across municipal, non-residential, and residential end markets, nationwide. The company was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.