ACA vs VMC vs WS Stock Comparison

Arcosa, Vulcan Materials and Worthington Steel Prices as of Oct 22, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ACA Arcosa, Inc.
$149.18 +1.7% 1M +61.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.33B
P/E
14.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.74B
Div. yield
0.13%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
6 wins
VMC Vulcan Materials CO
$261.66 +7.0% 1M -10.4% 1Y
Market cap
$33.92B
P/E
30.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.12B
Div. yield
0.01%
Aggregates Basic Materials
4 wins
WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$40.81 +17.4% 1M +31.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.12B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
0.02%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Arcosa leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Arcosa 6, Vulcan Materials 4, Worthington Steel 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACAVMCWSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.33B $33.92B $2.12B VMC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 14.9x 30.4x -55.3x ACA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 33.6x 27.7x 10.7x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +6.9% +69.1% WS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.9% 13.7% -0.7% ACA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.5% 9.9% 0.2% VMC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 1.8x 19.9x VMC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.13% 0.01% 0.02% ACA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +61.6% -10.4% +31.3% ACA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +23.0%/yr +7.2%/yr — ACA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.7% 29.0% 47.1% VMC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 47/100 33/100 ACA

Percentile Scorecard

ACAVMCWS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACAVMCWS
Valuation 48 #106 of 203 0 #10 of 10 60 #82 of 203
Growth 82 #34 of 188 – 32 #128 of 188
Profitability 53 #89 of 187 71 #3 of 8 29 #134 of 187
Financial Health 58 #94 of 222 75 #3 of 9 10 #200 of 222
Shareholder Returns 41 #91 of 153 43 #5 of 8 34 #102 of 153
Overall 56 47 33
  • ACA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • VMC ranked among 10 companies in Construction Materials
  • WS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACAVMCWSSPY
1 month +1.7%+7.0%+17.4% -1.0%
3 months +2.9%-6.5%+13.4% +2.9%
6 months +24.1%-10.4%+8.1% +6.4%
Year to date +40.3%-8.3%+17.9% +11.4%
1 year +61.6%-10.4%+31.3% +13.1%
3 years +117.4%+27.5%— +79.4%
3 years, per year +29.6%+8.5%— +21.5%
5 years +181.9%+41.3%— +67.7%
5 years, per year +23.0%+7.2%— +10.9%
10 years —+134.6%— +255.2%
10 years, per year —+8.9%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureACAVMCWSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.7%29.0%47.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.9%32.0%49.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.950.811.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.94-0.360.67 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -36.7%-32.8%-51.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-20.8%-16.2% -2.5%
52-week high $149.18$330.37$48.69 $779.14
52-week low $92.25$240.82$28.10 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACAVMCWS
P/E now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 25.9x 30.4xmedian 19.7x -53.3xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 1.9x 4.2xmedian 1.8x 0.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 13.7x 16.1xmedian 9.3x 41.2xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 54.9xmedian 21.1x 33.0xmedian 31.6x 44.8xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 2.3x 4.0xmedian 2.3x 1.3xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.75median 1.19 1.85median 1.85 1.64median 1.19

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACAVMCWS
Revenue $2.74B $8.12B $5.30B
Gross profit $632.30M $2.23B $549.30M
Operating income $322.70M $1.64B $6.30M
Net income $491.40M $1.12B -$56.50M
Free cash flow $133.40M $1.03B $46.70M
EPS (diluted) $9.99 $8.56 $-0.77
Cash & equivalents $432.10M $194.20M $248.20M
Total debt $1.44B $4.36B $2.89B
Shares (diluted) 49.20M 130.30M 50.00M
Enterprise value $6.31B $33.21B $1.60B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACAVMCWS
P/E 14.9x 30.4x -53.3x
P/FCF 54.9x 33.0x 44.8x
P/Operating cash flow 21.5x 18.8x 10.4x
P/S 2.7x 4.2x 0.4x
P/B 2.5x 4.0x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 2.7x 4.8x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 16.1x 41.2x
EV/EBIT 25.8x 23.1x 641.0x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 4.7x 0.8x
EV/FCF 62.4x 37.0x 86.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x 21.1x 20.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.75 1.85 1.64

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACAVMCWS
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 6.9% 69.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.0% 2.3% 15.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 20.7% 6.7% 36.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.2% 8.9% 13.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 61.3% 14.5% -95.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -5.6% 13.1% -65.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 433.0% 17.4% -144.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 20.2% 15.5% -34.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 430.8% 19.7% -132.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% 16.4% -32.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -23.1% 10.8% 18.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.1% 10.7% -10.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -54.9% -6.5% 50.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 54.7% 16.3% -41.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACAVMCWS
Gross margin 23.0% 27.5% 10.4%
EBITDA margin 19.9% 29.2% 1.8%
Operating margin 11.8% 20.2% 0.1%
Pretax margin 8.4% 17.6% -0.2%
Net margin 17.9% 13.7% -0.7%
FCF margin 4.9% 12.7% 0.9%
Operating cash flow margin 12.4% 22.2% 3.8%
Return on equity 17.4% 13.2% -4.0%
Return on assets 9.5% 6.8% -1.4%
Return on invested capital 6.5% 9.9% 0.2%
Return on capital employed 6.9% 10.7% 0.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.7x 1.6x -3.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 0.7% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACAVMCWS
Debt / assets 27.1% 26.5% 36.5%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.5x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 1.8x 19.9x
Debt / FCF 10.8x 4.2x 47.0x
Liabilities / assets 43.7% 48.4% 72.8%
Equity / assets 56.3% 51.6% 27.2%
Interest coverage 3.3x 7.2x 0.5x
Current ratio 3.1x 1.8x 1.8x
Quick ratio 2.2x 1.1x 0.8x
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.2x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.18 3.92 1.54

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACAVMCWS
Dividend yield 0.1% 0.8% 1.6%
Net buyback yield 0.2% 2.4% –
Shareholder yield 0.4% 3.1% 1.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 2.0% 23.7% -57.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) 7.4% 25.7% 70.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.0% 4.8% 2.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.0% 6.2% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACAVMCWS
Forward P/E 33.6xFY2026 27.7xFY2026 10.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.44FY2026 $9.43FY2026 $3.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -0.7%FY2026 +17.9%FY2026 +71.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.0% +11.5% +30.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.45BFY2026 $8.32BFY2026 $10.90BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -14.9%FY2026 +4.8%FY2026 +217.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.5% -1.8% +2.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACAVMCWS
Held by institutions 91.8% 98.5% 56.3%
Institutions holding 426 1,060 238
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +3.6% +1.2%
Institutions buying 230 526 112
Institutions selling 114 363 68
Buyers to sellers 2.02 1.45 1.65

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACAVMCWS
ACA 1.00 0.29 0.38
VMC 0.29 1.00 0.37
WS 0.38 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACA, VMC and WS?

Vulcan Materials (VMC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Arcosa (ACA) $7.33B, Vulcan Materials (VMC) $33.92B, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.12B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACA, VMC and WS?

Arcosa (ACA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Arcosa (ACA) 14.9x, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 30.4x, Worthington Steel (WS) -55.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Worthington Steel (WS) is cheapest (Arcosa (ACA) 33.6x, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 27.7x, Worthington Steel (WS) 10.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Arcosa (ACA) +9.7%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) +6.9%, Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Arcosa (ACA) has the highest net margin (Arcosa (ACA) 17.9%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 13.7%, Worthington Steel (WS) -0.7%). On return on invested capital, Vulcan Materials (VMC) leads (Arcosa (ACA) 6.5%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 9.9%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Arcosa (ACA) returned the most: Arcosa (ACA) +61.6%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) -10.4%, Worthington Steel (WS) +31.3%. Over five years, Arcosa (ACA) compounded fastest (Arcosa (ACA) +23.0%/yr, Vulcan Materials (VMC) +7.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Arcosa (ACA) has the highest dividend yield: Arcosa (ACA) 0.13%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 0.01%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.02%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Vulcan Materials (VMC) has been the steadiest (Arcosa (ACA) 31.7%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 29.0%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACA, VMC and WS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Arcosa (ACA) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.