Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) versus urban-gro (NASDAQ:UGRO) Head to Head Comparison

urban-gro (NASDAQ:UGRO) and Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

20.6% of urban-gro shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.2% of Core & Main shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of urban-gro shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Core & Main shares are owned 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares urban-gro and Core & Main”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
urban-gro	$17.40 million	0.10	-$22.10 million	($27.87)	-0.05
Core & Main	$7.65 billion	1.15	$441.00 million	$2.36	19.29

Core & Main has higher revenue and earnings than urban-gro. urban-gro is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Core & Main, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

urban-gro has a beta of -2.91, suggesting that its share price is 391% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Core & Main has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares urban-gro and Core & Main’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
urban-gro	-82.11%	-118.44%	-33.76%
Core & Main	5.87%	26.17%	8.58%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for urban-gro and Core & Main, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
urban-gro	1	0	0	0	1.00
Core & Main	0	5	7	0	2.58

Core & Main has a consensus price target of $56.70, suggesting a potential upside of 24.57%. Given Core & Main’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Core & Main is more favorable than urban-gro.

Summary

Core & Main beats urban-gro on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About urban-gro

urban-gro, Inc. engages in the designing, engineering, building, and integrating complex environmental equipment systems for indoor controlled environment agriculture (CEA) cultivation and retail facilities in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company provides architectural design, engineering, and construction services comprising pre-construction, cultivation space programming (CSP), architectural and interior design, engineering, integrated cultivation design, owner's representative/construction management, and general contracting services; and maintenance, training, and support services. It also offers facility and equipment commissioning services; gro-care crop and asset protection services, including training services, equipment maintenance services, asset protection program, and an interactive online operating support system for gro-care and client document delivery and project management; and property condition assessment services. In addition, the company provides integrated equipment systems solutions, such as design, source, and integration of complex environmental equipment systems comprising heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions, as well as environmental control, fertigation, irrigation distribution, water treatment, and wastewater reclamation systems; and commercial horticulture lighting solutions, rolling and automated container benching systems, specialty fans, microbial mitigation, and odor reduction systems. Further, it offers value-Added Reselling (VAR) of cultivation equipment systems; and strategic vendor relationships with premier manufacturers. It primarily markets and sells its solutions to clients in the CEA that includes operators and facilitators in the cannabis and produce markets; and commercial sectors comprising food and beverage consumer packaged goods companies, healthcare, higher education, and hospitality. urban-gro, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is based in Lafayette, Colorado.

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.