Comparing Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS)

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) and Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and Owens Corning, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	0	3	5	1	2.78
Owens Corning	1	6	9	2	2.67

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor currently has a consensus price target of $57.44, indicating a potential upside of 25.01%. Owens Corning has a consensus price target of $164.15, indicating a potential upside of 29.63%. Given Owens Corning’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Owens Corning is more favorable than Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor.

Dividends

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Owens Corning pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Owens Corning pays out -39.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Owens Corning has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Owens Corning is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and Owens Corning’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	15.45%	18.01%	10.74%
Owens Corning	-6.81%	20.52%	6.21%

Volatility & Risk

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Owens Corning has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.3% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.4% of Owens Corning shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Owens Corning shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and Owens Corning”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	$1.70 billion	4.49	$198.00 million	$1.62	28.37
Owens Corning	$10.10 billion	0.99	-$522.00 million	($8.06)	-15.71

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Owens Corning. Owens Corning is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Owens Corning beats Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation engages in design, procurement, manufacture, and marketing of water management solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers water safety and control products, such as backflow preventers, fire system valves, pressure reducing valves, thermostatic mixing valves, PEX pipings, fittings, and installation tools under the Zurn and Wilkins brand names. The company also provides flow systems products comprising point drains, hydrants, fixture carrier systems, chemical drainage systems; and interceptors and separators, acid neutralization systems, and remote monitoring systems under the Zurn and Green Turtle brands. In addition, it develops, manufactures, and markets remote tank monitoring devices, alarms, software, and services. Further, the company offers sensor-operated flush valves under the AquaSense, Aquaflush, and AquaVantage brands; heavy-duty commercial faucets under the AquaSpec brand; water conserving fixtures under the EcoVantage and Zurn One brands; stainless steel products under the Just Manufacturing brand name, which include stainless steel sinks and plumbing fixtures, and various types of sinks, as well as drinking water dispensing and filtration products under the Elkay and Halsey Taylor brands. It distributes to institutional, commercial, waterworks, and residential end markets through independent sales representatives, plumbing wholesalers, and industry-specific distributors in the waterworks, foodservice, industrial, janitorial, sanitation, and sitework industries. The company was formerly known as Zurn Water Solutions Corporation and changed its name to Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation in July 2022. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation was incorporated in 1892 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Owens Corning

Owens Corning manufactures and sells building and construction materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Roofing, Insulation, and Composites. The Roofing segment manufactures and sells laminate and strip asphalt roofing shingles, oxidized asphalt materials, and roofing components used in residential and commercial construction, and specialty applications. This segment sells its products through distributors, home centers, and lumberyards, as well as to roofing contractors for built-up roofing asphalt systems; and manufacturers in automotive, chemical, rubber, and construction industries. The Insulation segment manufactures and sells thermal and acoustical batts, loosefill insulation, spray foam insulation, foam sheathing and accessories under the Owens Corning PINK, and FIBERGLAS brands; and glass fiber pipe insulation, energy efficient flexible duct media, bonded and granulated mineral wool insulation, cellular glass insulation, and foam insulation under the FOAMULAR, FOAMGLAS, and Paroc brand names used in construction applications. This segment sells its products primarily to the insulation installers, home centers, lumberyards, retailers, and distributors. The Composites segment manufactures, fabricates, and sells glass reinforcements in the form of fiber; and glass fiber products in the form of fabrics, non-wovens, and composite lumber. Its products are used in building structures, roofing shingles, tubs and showers, pools, decking, flooring, pipes and tanks, poles, electrical equipment, and wind-energy turbine blades. This segment sells its products directly to parts molders, fabricators, and shingle manufacturers. The company was incorporated in 1938 and is headquartered in Toledo, Ohio.