Reviewing Core & Main (CNM) & Its Competitors

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

Volatility and Risk

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.2% of Core & Main shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.9% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Core & Main shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Core & Main and its competitors, as provided 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	6674	227	2.43

Core & Main currently has a consensus target price of $56.70, suggesting 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, equities analysts plainly believe Core & Main is more favorable than its competitors.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Core & Main and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Core & Main	$7.65 billion	$441.00 million	19.73
Core & Main Competitors	$6.68 billion	$364.19 million	26.02

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

Profitability

This table compares Core & Main and its competitors’ 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 competitors on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About Core & Main

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.