Head to Head Comparison: Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) & James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX)

James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) and Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) are both construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for James Hardie Industries and Latham Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James Hardie Industries	0	4	11	1	2.81
Latham Group	2	1	0	0	1.33

James Hardie Industries presently has a consensus price target of $25.93, indicating a potential upside of 24.26%. Latham Group has a consensus price target of $7.44, indicating a potential upside of 19.38%. Given James Hardie Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than Latham Group.

Volatility and Risk

James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Latham Group has a beta of 1.71, meaning that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares James Hardie Industries and Latham Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
James Hardie Industries	$4.12 billion	2.18	$424.00 million	$0.48	43.47
Latham Group	$508.52 million	1.43	-$17.86 million	($0.10)	-62.30

James Hardie Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Latham Group. Latham Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than James Hardie Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares James Hardie Industries and Latham Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
James Hardie Industries	4.67%	18.40%	7.62%
Latham Group	-2.07%	-2.80%	-1.34%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Latham Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.9% of Latham Group 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.

Summary

James Hardie Industries beats Latham Group on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About James Hardie Industries

James Hardie Industries plc manufactures and sells fiber cement, fiber gypsum, and cement bonded building products for interior and exterior building construction applications primarily in the United States, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The company operates through North America Fiber Cement, Asia Pacific Fiber Cement, and Europe Building Products segments. It offers fiber cement interior linings, exterior siding products, and related accessories; and various fiber cement products for a range of applications, including external cladding, internal walls, ceilings, floors, soffits, fences, and facades. The company also provides fiber gypsum and cement-bonded boards for use in the timber frame construction, dry lining, DIY, and structural fire protection applications. Its products are used in residential repair and remodel, and commercial and residential new construction markets James Hardie Industries plc was founded in 1888 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.

About Latham Group

Latham Group, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It offers a portfolio of pools and related products, including in-ground swimming pools that include fiber glass and packaged pools; and pool covers and liners under the Latham, Narellan, CoverStar, Radiant, and GLI brand names. The company was formerly known as Latham Topco, Inc. and changed its name to Latham Group, Inc. in March 2021. Latham Group, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Latham, New York.