KNF vs VMC vs ACA Stock Comparison

Knife River, Vulcan Materials and Arcosa Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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KNF Knife River Corp
$52.89 -3.1% 1M -15.8% 1Y
Market cap
$3.07B
P/E
21.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.31B
Div. yield
–
Aggregates Basic Materials
2 wins
VMC Vulcan Materials CO
$261.43 +6.7% 1M -10.7% 1Y
Market cap
$34.06B
P/E
30.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.12B
Div. yield
0.01%
Aggregates Basic Materials
4 wins
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

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionKNFVMCACALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.07B $34.06B $7.33B VMC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.9x 30.5x 14.9x ACA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.8x 27.9x 33.6x KNF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.1% +6.9% +9.7% KNF
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.2% 13.7% 17.9% ACA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.5% 9.9% 6.5% VMC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 1.8x 1.8x VMC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.13% ACA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -15.8% -10.7% +61.6% ACA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +7.2%/yr +23.0%/yr ACA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 51.1% 29.1% 31.7% VMC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 30/100 46/100 56/100 ACA

Percentile Scorecard

KNFVMCACA

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

AxisKNFVMCACA
Valuation 78 #3 of 10 0 #10 of 10 49 #105 of 203
Growth – – 82 #34 of 187
Profitability 0 #8 of 8 64 #3 of 8 51 #91 of 185
Financial Health 13 #8 of 9 75 #3 of 9 58 #92 of 219
Shareholder Returns – 43 #5 of 8 41 #90 of 153
Overall 30 46 56
  • KNF ranked among 10 companies in Construction Materials
  • VMC ranked among 10 companies in Construction Materials
  • ACA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodKNFVMCACASPY
1 month -3.1%+6.7%+1.7% -0.8%
3 months -32.6%-8.1%+2.9% +3.5%
6 months -40.5%-10.3%+24.1% +7.0%
Year to date -24.8%-8.3%+40.3% +12.2%
1 year -15.8%-10.7%+61.6% +13.0%
3 years +10.2%+35.0%+117.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year +3.3%+10.5%+29.6% +23.1%
5 years —+41.3%+181.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year —+7.2%+23.0% +11.0%
10 years —+133.0%— +258.0%
10 years, per year —+8.8%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureKNFVMCACASPY
Volatility, 1Y 51.1%29.1%31.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.4%32.0%32.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.300.810.95 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.31-0.371.94 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.3%-32.8%-36.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -43.7%-20.9%0.0% -1.8%
52-week high $93.97$330.37$149.18 $779.14
52-week low $47.97$240.82$92.25 $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.

MultipleKNFVMCACA
P/E now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 19.6x 30.4xmedian 19.6x 14.9xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.8x 4.2xmedian 1.8x 2.7xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 9.3x 16.1xmedian 9.3x 15.2xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 69.7xmedian 31.4x 32.9xmedian 31.4x 54.9xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.3x 4.0xmedian 2.3x 2.5xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 14.46median 2.78 1.85median 2.78 0.75median 1.26

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 monthsKNFVMCACA
Revenue $3.31B $8.12B $2.74B
Gross profit $589.67M $2.23B $632.30M
Operating income $275.33M $1.64B $322.70M
Net income $139.89M $1.12B $491.40M
Free cash flow $43.06M $1.03B $133.40M
EPS (diluted) $2.46 $8.56 $9.99
Cash & equivalents $102.03M $194.20M $432.10M
Total debt $1.62B $4.36B $1.44B
Shares (diluted) 56.88M 130.30M 49.20M
Enterprise value $2.68B $33.36B $6.31B

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
MetricKNFVMCACA
P/E 21.5x 30.4x 14.9x
P/FCF 69.7x 32.9x 54.9x
P/Operating cash flow 9.6x 18.7x 21.5x
P/S 0.9x 4.2x 2.7x
P/B 1.9x 4.0x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 4.8x 2.7x
EV/EBITDA 9.2x 16.1x 15.2x
EV/EBIT 16.4x 23.1x 25.8x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 4.7x 3.0x
EV/FCF 104.9x 37.0x 62.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.4x 21.1x 24.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 14.46 1.85 0.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKNFVMCACA
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.1% 6.9% 9.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.3% 2.3% 7.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.3% 6.7% 20.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 8.9% 14.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 6.5% 14.5% 61.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 13.1% -5.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -8.7% 17.4% 433.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 1.7% 15.5% 20.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -8.7% 19.7% 430.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 1.5% 16.4% 19.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 28.0% 10.8% -23.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.2% 10.7% 16.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 181.0% -6.5% -54.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -29.0% 16.3% 54.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKNFVMCACA
Gross margin 17.8% 27.5% 23.0%
EBITDA margin 14.9% 29.2% 19.9%
Operating margin 8.3% 20.2% 11.8%
Pretax margin 5.8% 17.6% 8.4%
Net margin 4.2% 13.7% 17.9%
FCF margin 1.3% 12.7% 4.9%
Operating cash flow margin 9.5% 22.2% 12.4%
Return on equity 8.8% 13.2% 17.4%
Return on assets 3.5% 6.8% 9.5%
Return on invested capital 6.5% 9.9% 6.5%
Return on capital employed 7.8% 10.7% 6.9%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 1.6x 0.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.7% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKNFVMCACA
Debt / assets 38.7% 26.5% 27.1%
Debt / equity 1.0x 0.5x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 1.8x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 37.6x 4.2x 10.8x
Liabilities / assets 61.6% 48.4% 43.7%
Equity / assets 38.4% 51.6% 56.3%
Interest coverage 3.1x 7.2x 3.3x
Current ratio 2.7x 1.8x 3.1x
Quick ratio 1.5x 1.1x 2.2x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 1.0x
Altman Z-score 2.27 3.92 3.18

Shareholder Returns

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

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.

ConsensusKNFVMCACA
Forward P/E 19.8xFY2026 27.9xFY2026 33.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.67FY2026 $9.37FY2026 $4.44FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -3.3%FY2026 +17.1%FY2026 -0.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.5% +11.5% +7.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.66BFY2026 $8.31BFY2026 $2.45BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.2%FY2026 +4.6%FY2026 -14.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.1% -1.9% +12.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKNFVMCACA
Held by institutions 96.7% 98.5% 91.8%
Institutions holding 391 1,060 426
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.0% +3.6% -1.1%
Institutions buying 168 526 230
Institutions selling 137 363 114
Buyers to sellers 1.23 1.45 2.02

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.

KNFVMCACA
KNF 1.00 0.42 0.30
VMC 0.42 1.00 0.29
ACA 0.30 0.29 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KNF, VMC and ACA?

Vulcan Materials (VMC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Knife River (KNF) $3.07B, Vulcan Materials (VMC) $34.06B, Arcosa (ACA) $7.33B.

Which stock is cheaper, KNF, VMC and ACA?

Arcosa (ACA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Knife River (KNF) 21.9x, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 30.5x, Arcosa (ACA) 14.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Knife River (KNF) is cheapest (Knife River (KNF) 19.8x, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 27.9x, Arcosa (ACA) 33.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Knife River (KNF) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Knife River (KNF) +12.1%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) +6.9%, Arcosa (ACA) +9.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Arcosa (ACA) has the highest net margin (Knife River (KNF) 4.2%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 13.7%, Arcosa (ACA) 17.9%). On return on invested capital, Vulcan Materials (VMC) leads (Knife River (KNF) 6.5%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 9.9%, Arcosa (ACA) 6.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Arcosa (ACA) returned the most: Knife River (KNF) -15.8%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) -10.7%, Arcosa (ACA) +61.6%. Over five years, Arcosa (ACA) compounded fastest (Vulcan Materials (VMC) +7.2%/yr, Arcosa (ACA) +23.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Arcosa (ACA) has the highest dividend yield: Knife River (KNF) 0.00%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 0.01%, Arcosa (ACA) 0.13%. Knife River (KNF) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Vulcan Materials (VMC) has been the steadiest (Knife River (KNF) 51.1%, Vulcan Materials (VMC) 29.1%, Arcosa (ACA) 31.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.