United States Lime & Minerals (NASDAQ:USLM – Get Free Report) and Arcosa (NYSE:ACA – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and profitability.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
27.1% of United States Lime & Minerals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.7% of Arcosa shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of United States Lime & Minerals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Arcosa shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares United States Lime & Minerals and Arcosa”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| United States Lime & Minerals | $372.73 million | 9.04 | $134.27 million | $4.67 | 25.14 |
| Arcosa | $2.88 billion | 2.48 | $208.40 million | $9.98 | 14.57 |
Arcosa has higher revenue and earnings than United States Lime & Minerals. Arcosa 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.
Dividends
United States Lime & Minerals pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Arcosa pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. United States Lime & Minerals pays out 5.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Arcosa pays out 2.0% 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. United States Lime & Minerals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for United States Lime & Minerals and Arcosa, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| United States Lime & Minerals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Arcosa | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2.29 |
Arcosa has a consensus price target of $141.25, indicating a potential downside of 2.84%. Given Arcosa’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Arcosa is more favorable than United States Lime & Minerals.
Profitability
This table compares United States Lime & Minerals and Arcosa’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| United States Lime & Minerals | 35.66% | 20.76% | 19.24% |
| Arcosa | 17.90% | 7.90% | 4.22% |
Volatility and Risk
United States Lime & Minerals has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arcosa has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Arcosa beats United States Lime & Minerals on 10 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 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.
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