Head to Head Comparison: Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) vs. Cemex (NYSE:CX)

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

Risk and Volatility

Cemex has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Cemex pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Vulcan Materials pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cemex pays out 27.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vulcan Materials pays out 24.6% 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 12 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Cemex and Vulcan Materials, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cemex	1	3	7	0	2.55
Vulcan Materials	1	9	12	0	2.50

Cemex currently has a consensus target price of $13.92, indicating a potential upside of 29.42%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus target price of $310.72, indicating a potential upside of 9.71%. Given Cemex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Cemex is more favorable than Vulcan Materials.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.0% of Cemex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Cemex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Cemex and Vulcan Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cemex	3.60%	5.18%	2.43%
Vulcan Materials	13.77%	13.03%	6.65%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cemex and Vulcan Materials”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cemex	$16.13 billion	0.97	$960.00 million	$0.44	24.44
Vulcan Materials	$7.94 billion	4.58	$1.08 billion	$8.45	33.52

Vulcan Materials has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cemex. Cemex is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vulcan Materials, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats Cemex on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cemex

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, distributes, and sells cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, urbanization solutions, and other construction materials and services worldwide. The company offers gray ordinary portland, white portland, oil-well, and blended cement products; mortar; and standard ready-mix, architectural and decorative, rapid-setting, fiber-reinforced, fluid-fill, roller-compacted, self-consolidating, pervious, and antibacterial, and other concrete products. It also provides crushed stone, sand, gravel, and recycled concrete products; performance materials, such as admixtures, mortars, special mortars, and asphalt; and waste management services comprising municipal and industrial, construction, demolition and excavation, and alternative raw materials. In addition, the company construction related services, including logistics and transportation, retail, pavement services, design and engineering, and others; and industrial construction products consist of precast components, 2D panels, 3D modules, and complete structures. CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in San Pedro Garza García, Mexico.

About Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and supplies construction aggregates primarily in the United States. It operates through four segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium. The company provides crushed stones, sand and gravel, sand, and other aggregates; and related products and services that are applied in construction and maintenance of highways, streets, and other public works, as well as in the construction of housing and commercial, industrial, and other nonresidential facilities. It also offers asphalt mix and asphalt construction paving services; ready-mixed concrete; and calcium products for the animal feed, plastics, and water treatment industries. The company was formerly known as Virginia Holdco, Inc. and changed its name to Vulcan Materials Company. Vulcan Materials Company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.