Comparing United States Lime & Minerals (NASDAQ:USLM) & Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP)

United States Lime & Minerals (NASDAQ:USLM) and Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Dividends

United States Lime & Minerals pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Eagle Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. United States Lime & Minerals pays out 5.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eagle Materials pays out 7.4% 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. United States Lime & Minerals has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

United States Lime & Minerals has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eagle Materials has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for United States Lime & Minerals and Eagle Materials, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United States Lime & Minerals	0	0	0	0	0.00
Eagle Materials	0	6	3	0	2.33

Eagle Materials has a consensus price target of $255.3333, suggesting a potential upside of 12.92%. Given Eagle Materials’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Eagle Materials is more favorable than United States Lime & Minerals.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

27.1% of United States Lime & Minerals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Eagle Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of United States Lime & Minerals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Eagle Materials shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares United States Lime & Minerals and Eagle Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United States Lime & Minerals	35.57%	24.24%	22.20%
Eagle Materials	19.81%	31.21%	14.30%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares United States Lime & Minerals and Eagle Materials”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United States Lime & Minerals	$317.72 million	10.14	$108.84 million	$4.36	25.79
Eagle Materials	$2.26 billion	3.25	$463.42 million	$13.58	16.65

Eagle Materials has higher revenue and earnings than United States Lime & Minerals. Eagle Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United States Lime & Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Eagle Materials beats United States Lime & Minerals on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United States Lime & Minerals

United States Lime & Minerals, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of lime and limestone products. Its products include High Calcium Quicklime, Hydrated Lime, Lime Kiln Dust, Lime Slurry, and High Calcium Limestone. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

About Eagle Materials

Eagle Materials Inc., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells heavy construction materials and light building materials in the United States. It operates in four segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard. The company engages in the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement, including Portland limestone cement; grinding and sale of slag; and mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboards used to finish the interior walls and ceilings in residential, commercial, and industrial structures, as well as well as containerboard and lightweight packaging grades; manufacture and sale of recycled paperboard to the gypsum wallboard industry and other paperboard converters; the sale of readymix concrete; and mining and sale of aggregates, such as crushed stone, sand, and gravel. Its products are used in commercial and residential construction; public construction projects to build, expand, and repair roads and highways; and repair and remodel activities. The company was formerly known as Centex Construction Products, Inc. and changed its name to Eagle Materials, Inc. in January 2004. Eagle Materials Inc. was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.