Critical Survey: Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) & Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC)

Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) and Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.2% of Energy Fuels shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Energy Fuels shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Vulcan Materials shares are owned by 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 recommendations and price targets for Energy Fuels and Vulcan Materials, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Energy Fuels	0	2	2	0	2.50
Vulcan Materials	0	4	10	0	2.71

Energy Fuels currently has a consensus price target of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 21.78%. Vulcan Materials has a consensus price target of $280.46, suggesting a potential downside of 1.46%. Given Energy Fuels’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Energy Fuels is more favorable than Vulcan Materials.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Energy Fuels and Vulcan Materials”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Energy Fuels	$38.66 million	35.50	$99.86 million	($0.22)	-31.73
Vulcan Materials	$7.40 billion	5.08	$933.20 million	$6.34	44.89

Vulcan Materials has higher revenue and earnings than Energy Fuels. Energy Fuels is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vulcan Materials, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Energy Fuels and Vulcan Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Energy Fuels	-90.40%	-9.16%	-8.67%
Vulcan Materials	11.43%	11.88%	6.38%

Volatility and Risk

Energy Fuels has a beta of 1.6, suggesting that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vulcan Materials has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vulcan Materials beats Energy Fuels on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Energy Fuels

Energy Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction, recovery, recycling, exploration, permitting, evaluation, and sale of uranium mineral properties in the United States. The company produces and sells vanadium pentoxide, rare earth elements, and heavy mineral sands, such as ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and monazite. The company was formerly known as Volcanic Metals Exploration Inc. and changed its name to Energy Fuels Inc. in May 2006. Energy Fuels Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.

About Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and supplies construction aggregates primarily in the United States. It operates through four segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium. The company provides crushed stones, sand and gravel, sand, and other aggregates; and related products and services that are applied in construction and maintenance of highways, streets, and other public works, as well as in the construction of housing and commercial, industrial, and other nonresidential facilities. It also offers asphalt mix and asphalt construction paving services; ready-mixed concrete; and calcium products for the animal feed, plastics, and water treatment industries. The company was formerly known as Virginia Holdco, Inc. and changed its name to Vulcan Materials Company. Vulcan Materials Company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.