Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. (NYSE:CPAC) vs. Arcosa (NYSE:ACA) Critical Contrast

Arcosa (NYSE:ACA) and Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. (NYSE:CPAC) are both materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Arcosa has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Arcosa and Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.”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	2.54	$208.40 million	$9.98	14.95
Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.	$2.25 billion	0.48	$43.27 million	$0.72	17.71

Arcosa has higher revenue and earnings than Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.. Arcosa is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Arcosa pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. pays an annual dividend of $0.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Arcosa pays out 2.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. pays out 76.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

90.7% of Arcosa shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Arcosa shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Arcosa and Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arcosa	17.90%	7.90%	4.22%
Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.	9.42%	16.49%	6.74%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Arcosa and Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arcosa	0	4	3	0	2.43
Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.	0	3	1	0	2.25

Arcosa currently has a consensus target price of $141.25, indicating a potential downside of 5.33%. Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. has a consensus target price of $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.96%. Given Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. is more favorable than Arcosa.

Summary

Arcosa beats Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. on 11 of the 16 factors compared between 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 Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.

Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A., a cement company, produces, distributes, and sells cement and cement-related materials in Peru. It operates through three segments: Cement, Concrete, Mortar and Precast; Quicklime; and Sales of Construction Supplies. The company’s cement and concrete products are used in residential and commercial construction, and civil engineering; ready-mix concrete used in construction sites; concrete precast, such as paving units or paver stones for pedestrian walkways, as well as other bricks for partition walls and concrete precast for structural and non-structural uses; and cement-based products. It also produces and distributes quicklime for use in steel, food, fishing, and chemical industries. In addition, the company sells and distributes other construction materials manufactured by third parties, such as steel rebar, plastic pipes, and electrical wires. It offers its products directly to other retailers, private construction companies, and government entities through a network of independent retailers and hardware stores. The company was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in Lima, Peru. Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. is a subsidiary of Inversiones ASPI S.A.