Reviewing Arcosa (NYSE:ACA) & Cemex (NYSE:CX)

Arcosa (NYSE:ACA) and Cemex (NYSE:CX) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Arcosa and Cemex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arcosa	17.90%	7.90%	4.22%
Cemex	2.83%	3.82%	1.80%

Dividends

Arcosa pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Cemex pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Arcosa pays out 2.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cemex pays out 35.3% 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.7% of Arcosa shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Cemex shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Arcosa shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Cemex shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Arcosa has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cemex has a beta of 1.51, indicating that its stock price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Arcosa and Cemex”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arcosa	$2.88 billion	2.54	$208.40 million	$9.98	14.94
Cemex	$16.13 billion	0.91	$960.00 million	$0.34	29.69

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Arcosa and Cemex, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arcosa	0	4	3	0	2.43
Cemex	0	4	6	0	2.60

Arcosa presently has a consensus price target of $141.25, suggesting a potential downside of 5.29%. Cemex has a consensus price target of $13.94, suggesting a potential upside of 38.05%. Given Cemex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cemex is more favorable than Arcosa.

About Arcosa

Arcosa, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides infrastructure-related products and solutions for the construction, engineered structures, and transportation markets in the United States. It operates through three segments: Construction Products, Engineered Structures, and Transportation Products. The Construction Products segment offers natural and recycled aggregates; specialty materials; and construction site support equipment, including trench shields and shoring products for residential and non-residential construction, and specialty/other products, as well as for infrastructure construction. The Engineered Structures segment offers utility structures, wind towers, traffic structures, and telecommunication structures for electricity transmission and distribution, wind power generation, highway road construction, and wireless communication markets. The Transportation Products segment offers inland barges, fiberglass barge covers, winches, marine hardware, and steel components for railcars and transportation equipment; cast components for industrial and mining sectors; and axles, circular forgings, and coupling devices for freight, tank, locomotive, and passenger rail transportation equipment, as well as other industrial uses. Arcosa, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

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.