Knife River (NYSE:KNF – Get Free Report) and Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina (NYSE:LOMA – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Risk & Volatility
Knife River has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Knife River and Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Knife River | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2.36 |
| Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Knife River currently has a consensus target price of $65.29, indicating a potential upside of 14.65%. Given Knife River’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Knife River is more favorable than Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Knife River and Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Knife River | $3.15 billion | 1.03 | $157.07 million | $2.36 | 24.13 |
| Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina | $692.89 million | 1.48 | $18.87 million | $0.29 | 30.40 |
Knife River has higher revenue and earnings than Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina. Knife River is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
80.1% of Knife River shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.3% of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Knife River 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.
Profitability
This table compares Knife River and Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Knife River | 3.98% | 8.22% | 3.38% |
| Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina | 5.05% | 3.79% | 2.15% |
Summary
Knife River beats Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Knife River
Knife River Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides aggregates- led construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, Central, and Energy Services segments. The company mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete. It also provides contracting service, such as heavy-civil construction, asphalt and concrete paving, and site development and grading. In addition, the company sells cement, merchandise, and other building materials and related services. The company sells its construction materials to public and private-sector customers, including federal, state, and municipal governments, as well as industrial, commercial and residential developers, and other private parties; and provides its contracting services to public-sector customers for the development and servicing of highways, local roads, bridges, and other public-infrastructure projects. Knife River Corporation was founded in 1917 and is based in Bismarck, North Dakota.
About Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina
Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cement and its derivatives in Argentina. The company operates through Cement, Masonry Cement and Lime; Concrete; Railroad; Aggregates; and Others segments. It offers masonry cement, aggregates, ready-mix concrete, concrete, and lime to wholesale distributors, concrete producers, industrial customers, and others for use in the construction. The company also provides rail transportation services; and treats and recycles industrial waste for use as fuel and raw material. It markets its products under the Loma Negra, San Martín, Plasticor, Cacique Plus, Cacique Max, Loma Negra Plus, and Lomax brands. The company was founded in 1926 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima is a subsidiary of Intercement Trading E Inversiones Argentina Sociedad Limitada.
Receive News & Ratings for Knife River Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Knife River and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
