CNM vs FERG Stock Comparison

Core & Main and Ferguson Enterprises Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CNM Core & Main, Inc.
$42.40 -0.6% 1M -22.4% 1Y
Market cap
$7.87B
P/E
17.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.70B
Div. yield
–
Industrial Distribution Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ferguson Enterprises leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Ferguson Enterprises 7, Core & Main 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCNMFERGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.87B $44.47B FERG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.1x 21.9x CNM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.1x 21.5x CNM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.5% +5.2% FERG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% 6.5% FERG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.9% 21.7% FERG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 1.0x FERG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -22.4% -7.9% FERG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.6%/yr +8.8%/yr CNM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 32.6% 29.9% FERG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 67/100 CNM

Percentile Scorecard

CNMFERG

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

AxisCNMFERG
Valuation 80 #10 of 46 44 #26 of 46
Growth 50 #20 of 39 79 #9 of 39
Profitability 74 #11 of 40 87 #6 of 40
Financial Health 38 #31 of 49 48 #26 of 49
Shareholder Returns 97 #2 of 32 74 #9 of 32
Overall 68 67
  • CNM ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCNMFERGSPY
1 month -0.6%+3.1% -0.8%
3 months -2.9%-2.0% +3.5%
6 months -15.8%-13.2% +7.0%
Year to date -18.4%+3.1% +12.2%
1 year -22.4%-7.9% +13.0%
3 years +44.1%+51.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +13.0%+14.8% +23.1%
5 years +65.2%+52.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year +10.6%+8.8% +11.0%
10 years —+333.0% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+15.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCNMFERGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 32.6%29.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.4%30.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.141.13 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.69-0.26 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -40.0%-43.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -28.2%-14.3% -1.8%
52-week high $59.09$267.71 $779.14
52-week low $40.35$214.24 $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.

MultipleCNMFERG
P/E now vs peer median 17.2xmedian 25.1x 22.0xmedian 25.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.0x 1.4xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.6xmedian 13.3x 15.0xmedian 13.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.5xmedian 21.5x 19.7xmedian 21.5x
P/B now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 2.4x 7.6xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.18median 2.38 —median 2.38

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 monthsCNMFERG
Revenue $7.70B $31.35B
Gross profit $2.08B $9.73B
Operating income $742.00M $2.82B
Net income $479.00M $2.03B
Free cash flow $628.00M $2.26B
EPS (diluted) $2.37 $10.42
Cash & equivalents $312.00M $820.00M
Total debt $2.45B $4.13B
Shares (diluted) 193.36M 194.80M
Enterprise value $7.10B $41.69B

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
MetricCNMFERG
P/E 17.2x 22.0x
P/FCF 12.5x 19.7x
P/Operating cash flow 11.5x 17.0x
P/S 1.0x 1.4x
P/B 3.7x 7.6x
P/Tangible book 5.8x 8.5x
EV/EBITDA 10.6x 15.0x
EV/EBIT 13.4x 17.0x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 1.5x
EV/FCF 15.9x 21.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.6x 18.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.18 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCNMFERG
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.5% 5.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 0.9% 7.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.5% 17.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -1.0% –
Net income growth (1Y) 5.7% 31.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -5.0% –
EPS growth (1Y) 9.2% 34.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 14.6% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 12.7% 35.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.5% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 11.3% 42.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCNMFERG
Gross margin 27.0% 31.0%
EBITDA margin 12.1% 10.2%
Operating margin 9.6% 9.0%
Pretax margin 8.1% 8.3%
Net margin 6.0% 6.5%
FCF margin 8.2% 7.2%
Operating cash flow margin 8.9% 8.3%
Return on equity 22.7% 34.0%
Return on assets 7.4% 11.4%
Return on invested capital 12.9% 21.7%
Return on capital employed 13.9% 23.4%
Asset turnover 1.2x 1.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCNMFERG
Debt / assets 36.5% 23.2%
Debt / equity 1.2x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 1.0x
Debt / FCF 3.9x 1.8x
Liabilities / assets 68.6% 67.0%
Equity / assets 31.4% 33.0%
Interest coverage 6.3x –
Current ratio 2.5x 1.8x
Quick ratio 1.5x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.01 5.41

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCNMFERG
Dividend yield – 1.6%
Net buyback yield 4.7% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 4.7% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

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.

ConsensusCNMFERG
Forward P/E 13.1xFY2026 21.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.23FY2026 $10.68FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +39.8%FY2026 +7.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.1% +20.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.13BFY2026 $34.30BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.2%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.5% -0.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCNMFERG
Held by institutions 100.0% 96.3%
Institutions holding 449 937
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.8% +2.1%
Institutions buying 222 477
Institutions selling 176 343
Buyers to sellers 1.26 1.39

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.

CNMFERG
CNM 1.00 0.53
FERG 0.53 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CNM and FERG?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Core & Main (CNM) $7.87B, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $44.47B.

Which stock is cheaper, CNM and FERG?

Core & Main (CNM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Core & Main (CNM) 17.1x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Core & Main (CNM) is cheapest (Core & Main (CNM) 13.1x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Core & Main (CNM) -0.5%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has the highest net margin (Core & Main (CNM) 6.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%). On return on invested capital, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads (Core & Main (CNM) 12.9%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) returned the most: Core & Main (CNM) -22.4%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -7.9%. Over five years, Core & Main (CNM) compounded fastest (Core & Main (CNM) +10.6%/yr, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has been the steadiest (Core & Main (CNM) 32.6%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 29.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CNM and FERG move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.53, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CNM and FERG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads on 7. 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.