Reviewing Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) & Smith-Midland (NASDAQ:SMID)

Smith-Midland (NASDAQ:SMID) and Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) are both construction companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Smith-Midland and Vulcan Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smith-Midland	13.27%	25.08%	15.26%
Vulcan Materials	14.19%	13.47%	6.66%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Smith-Midland and Vulcan Materials”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smith-Midland	$78.51 million	2.39	$7.68 million	$2.22	15.93
Vulcan Materials	$7.42 billion	5.55	$911.90 million	$8.42	37.02

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

Risk and Volatility

Smith-Midland has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Smith-Midland and Vulcan Materials, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smith-Midland	0	1	0	0	2.00
Vulcan Materials	0	3	11	2	2.94

Vulcan Materials has a consensus price target of $317.83, suggesting a potential upside of 1.96%. Given Vulcan Materials’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Vulcan Materials is more favorable than Smith-Midland.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.9% of Smith-Midland shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Smith-Midland shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats Smith-Midland on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smith-Midland

Smith-Midland Corporation invents, develops, manufactures, markets, leases, licenses, sells, and installs precast concrete products and systems in the United States. It offers SlenderWall lightweight construction panel, lightweight exterior cladding used for the exterior walls of buildings; Sierra Wall that provides sound and sight barrier for use alongside highways around residential, industrial, and commercial properties; J-J Hooks highway safety barriers, used on roadways to separate lanes of traffic in construction work zone or traffic control purposes; Easi-Set precast building and Easi-Span expandable precast buildings, used in housing communications operations, traffic control systems, and mechanical and electrical stations; Easi-Set utility, vaults for house equipment, such as cable, telephone, or traffic signal equipment, and for underground storage, as well as custom-built utility vaults for special needs; SoftSound soundwall panels, it absorb highway noise; Beach Prisms erosion control modules for seawalls and jetties; and H2Out secondary drainage systems for panelized exterior cladding. It licenses its proprietary products in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Mexico, and Trinidad. The company markets its products through in-house sales force and independent sales representatives to contractors performing public and private construction contracts, such as construction of commercial buildings, public and private roads and highways, airports, and municipal utilities; and federal, state, and local transportation authorities. It serves its products to construction, highway, utilities, and farming industries. Smith-Midland Corporation was founded in 1960 and is based in Midland, Virginia.

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.