Contrasting Arcosa (NYSE:ACA) & Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP)

Arcosa (NYSE:ACA) and Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Arcosa and Eagle Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arcosa	17.90%	7.90%	4.22%
Eagle Materials	17.32%	26.87%	10.73%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.7% of Arcosa shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Eagle Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Arcosa shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Eagle Materials shares are held by 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.

Dividends

Arcosa pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Eagle Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Arcosa pays out 2.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eagle Materials pays out 7.9% 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.

Volatility and Risk

Arcosa has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eagle Materials has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Arcosa and Eagle Materials, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arcosa	0	4	3	0	2.43
Eagle Materials	0	10	0	0	2.00

Arcosa presently has a consensus target price of $141.25, indicating a potential downside of 3.94%. Eagle Materials has a consensus target price of $199.56, indicating a potential upside of 17.32%. Given Eagle Materials’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Eagle Materials is more favorable than Arcosa.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Arcosa and Eagle Materials”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arcosa	$2.88 billion	2.50	$208.40 million	$9.98	14.73
Eagle Materials	$2.31 billion	2.26	$423.81 million	$12.65	13.45

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

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 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.