James Hardie Industries (NYSE:JHX) vs. Arcosa (NYSE:ACA) Head to Head Contrast

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares James Hardie Industries and Arcosa”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
James Hardie Industries	$5.41 billion	2.80	$104.00 million	$0.25	104.43
Arcosa	$2.92 billion	2.47	$208.40 million	$9.98	14.69

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

Profitability

This table compares James Hardie Industries and Arcosa’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
James Hardie Industries	2.69%	10.56%	4.93%
Arcosa	17.90%	7.90%	4.22%

Dividends

James Hardie Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Arcosa pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. James Hardie Industries pays out 84.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Arcosa pays out 2.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

8.0% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.7% of Arcosa shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of James Hardie Industries shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Arcosa shares are owned 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.

Volatility & Risk

James Hardie Industries has a beta of 1.77, suggesting that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arcosa has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for James Hardie Industries and Arcosa, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
James Hardie Industries	0	2	11	0	2.85
Arcosa	0	4	3	0	2.43

James Hardie Industries currently has a consensus price target of $32.78, suggesting a potential upside of 25.55%. Arcosa has a consensus price target of $141.25, suggesting a potential downside of 3.67%. Given James Hardie Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe James Hardie Industries is more favorable than Arcosa.

Summary

James Hardie Industries beats Arcosa on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About James Hardie Industries

James Hardie Industries plc manufactures and sells fiber cement, fiber gypsum, and cement bonded building products for interior and exterior building construction applications primarily in the United States, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The company operates through North America Fiber Cement, Asia Pacific Fiber Cement, and Europe Building Products segments. It offers fiber cement interior linings, exterior siding products, and related accessories; and various fiber cement products for a range of applications, including external cladding, internal walls, ceilings, floors, soffits, fences, and facades. The company also provides fiber gypsum and cement-bonded boards for use in the timber frame construction, dry lining, DIY, and structural fire protection applications. Its products are used in residential repair and remodel, and commercial and residential new construction markets James Hardie Industries plc was founded in 1888 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.

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.