Core & Main (CNM) and Its Peers Critical Review

Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) is one of 159 publicly-traded companies in the “Trading Companies & Distributors” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Core & Main to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Core & Main has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Core & Main’s peers have a beta of 1.28, meaning that their average stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Core & Main and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Core & Main	0	5	7	0	2.58
Core & Main Competitors	1408	4863	6673	227	2.43

Core & Main currently has a consensus target price of $56.70, indicating a potential upside of 21.79%. As a group, “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies have a potential upside of 4.29%. Given Core & Main’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Core & Main is more favorable than its peers.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Core & Main and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Core & Main	$7.65 billion	$441.00 million	19.73
Core & Main Competitors	$6.45 billion	$364.19 million	26.02

Core & Main has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Core & Main is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.2% of Core & Main shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.9% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Core & Main shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Core & Main and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Core & Main	5.87%	26.17%	8.58%
Core & Main Competitors	2.87%	-33.64%	3.65%

Summary

Core & Main beats its peers on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

Core & Main Company Profile

Core & Main, Inc. is a specialty distributor focused on water, wastewater, storm drainage and fire protection products, and related services. The company provides infrastructure solutions to municipalities, private water companies and professional contractors across municipal, non-residential, and residential end markets, nationwide. The company was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.