MTRN vs USLM vs SND Stock Comparison

Materion, United States Lime & Minerals and Smart Sand Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MTRN MATERION Corp
$220.82 -13.6% 1M +67.3% 1Y
Market cap
$4.72B
P/E
52.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.10B
Div. yield
0.00%
Industrial Minerals Basic Materials
3 wins
SND Smart Sand, Inc.
$4.76 -6.1% 1M +113.5% 1Y
Market cap
$190.02M
P/E
18.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$386.99M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Minerals Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

United States Lime & Minerals leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (United States Lime & Minerals 5, Smart Sand 4, Materion 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMTRNUSLMSNDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.72B $3.15B $190.02M MTRN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 52.4x 23.4x 18.1x SND
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.7x 23.1x — USLM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +21.6% +7.0% +26.5% SND
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.3% 35.7% 2.7% USLM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.1% — 3.1% MTRN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.1x — 0.1x SND
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% MTRN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +67.3% -17.3% +113.5% SND
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.5%/yr +36.4%/yr +13.7%/yr USLM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 61.6% 39.0% 70.7% USLM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 74/100 73/100 USLM

Percentile Scorecard

MTRNUSLMSND

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

AxisMTRNUSLMSND
Valuation 55 #73 of 162 49 #83 of 162 95 #9 of 162
Growth 53 #70 of 147 58 #63 of 147 75 #37 of 147
Profitability 55 #55 of 122 84 #21 of 122 56 #54 of 122
Financial Health 27 #121 of 166 96 #7 of 166 45 #92 of 166
Shareholder Returns 53 #51 of 107 81 #21 of 107 94 #7 of 107
Overall 49 74 73
  • MTRN ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • USLM ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • SND ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMTRNUSLMSNDSPY
1 month -13.6%+2.1%-6.1% -1.0%
3 months -8.5%+0.6%+2.1% +2.9%
6 months +18.8%-15.0%-9.2% +6.4%
Year to date +77.6%-6.7%+19.0% +11.4%
1 year +67.3%-17.3%+113.5% +13.1%
3 years +132.0%+181.6%+128.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +32.4%+41.3%+31.8% +21.5%
5 years +211.0%+371.3%+89.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year +25.5%+36.4%+13.7% +10.9%
10 years +651.1%+746.5%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +22.3%+23.8%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMTRNUSLMSNDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 61.6%39.0%70.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 63.2%44.2%80.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.121.04-0.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.09-0.441.61 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.1%-45.9%-70.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -31.0%-19.9%-18.2% -2.5%
52-week high $320.08$139.46$5.82 $779.14
52-week low $111.50$97.49$2.09 $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.

MultipleMTRNUSLMSND
P/E now vs peer median 51.0xmedian 12.7x 23.8xmedian 12.7x 17.8xmedian 12.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 3.1x 8.5xmedian 3.1x 0.5xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 6.9x 15.2xmedian 6.9x 4.9xmedian 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 78.3xmedian 15.1x 34.9xmedian 15.1x 5.4xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.1x 4.6xmedian 2.1x 0.8xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median -16.15median 0.27 0.85median 0.27 2.84median 0.27

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 monthsMTRNUSLMSND
Revenue $2.10B $376.92M $386.99M
Gross profit $335.97M $182.84M $52.09M
Operating income $125.67M $158.71M $7.85M
Net income $90.12M $134.42M $10.49M
Free cash flow $58.73M $91.81M $34.63M
R&D $25.74M – –
EPS (diluted) $4.28 $4.67 $0.25
Cash & equivalents $19.99M $402.64M $10.20M
Total debt $440.69M – $14.66M
Shares (diluted) 21.08M 28.78M 41.37M
Enterprise value $4.66B $1.64B $132.74M

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
MetricMTRNUSLMSND
P/E 51.0x 23.8x 17.8x
P/FCF 78.3x 34.9x 5.4x
P/Operating cash flow 42.5x 19.7x 3.9x
P/S 2.2x 8.5x 0.5x
P/B 4.6x 4.6x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 5.1x 4.6x 0.8x
EV/EBITDA 25.2x 15.2x 4.9x
EV/EBIT 40.0x 17.7x 24.2x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 7.4x 0.5x
EV/FCF 85.5x 30.5x 5.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 46.4x 17.2x 4.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -16.15 0.85 2.84

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMTRNUSLMSND
Revenue growth (1Y) 21.6% 7.0% 26.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.2% 12.4% 8.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 1.0% 9.8% 64.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -2.4% 26.4% 3.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 120.8% 9.6% 193.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.7% 29.0% 4.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 453.5% 7.3% 1,206%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -2.9% 28.5% 9.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 447.1% 7.1% 1,143%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.2% 28.1% 6.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -26.2% 7.6% 350.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -13.1% 25.5% 7.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -36.0% -14.0% 16,392%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.8% 21.2% 18.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMTRNUSLMSND
Gross margin 16.0% 48.5% 13.5%
EBITDA margin 9.5% 49.0% 10.0%
Operating margin 6.0% 42.1% 2.0%
Pretax margin 4.6% 45.7% 1.9%
Net margin 4.3% 35.7% 2.7%
FCF margin 2.8% 24.4% 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 5.2% 43.1% 12.1%
Return on equity 9.2% 19.8% 4.4%
Return on assets 4.8% 18.4% 3.1%
Return on invested capital 8.1% – 3.1%
Return on capital employed 8.0% 22.3% 2.7%
Asset turnover 1.1x 0.5x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.2x 4.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 2.0% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMTRNUSLMSND
Debt / assets 23.6% – 4.2%
Debt / equity 0.4x – 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.1x – 0.1x
Debt / FCF 7.5x – 0.4x
Liabilities / assets 46.8% 6.9% 31.4%
Equity / assets 53.2% 93.1% 68.6%
Interest coverage 4.1x – –
Current ratio 2.9x 27.5x 1.7x
Quick ratio 1.1x 25.5x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.1x 22.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.59 40.54 2.62

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMTRNUSLMSND
Dividend yield 0.3% 0.2% 5.3%
Net buyback yield – 0.1% 0.8%
Shareholder yield 0.3% 0.3% 6.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 13.0% 5.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 20.0% 7.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.8% 9.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 14.8% –

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.

ConsensusMTRNUSLMSND
Forward P/E 29.7xFY2026 23.1xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $7.43FY2026 $4.84FY2026 $-0.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +36.6%FY2026 +3.6%FY2026 -1,000.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.8% +25.6% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.50BFY2026 $426.32MFY2026 $380.19MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +39.7%FY2026 +14.4%FY2026 +15.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.4% +16.4% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMTRNUSLMSND
Held by institutions 97.0% 32.5% 49.7%
Institutions holding 404 234 91
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.3% +7.5% +12.9%
Institutions buying 238 139 69
Institutions selling 121 66 17
Buyers to sellers 1.97 2.11 4.06

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.

MTRNUSLMSND
MTRN 1.00 0.21 0.05
USLM 0.21 1.00 -0.18
SND 0.05 -0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MTRN, USLM and SND?

Materion (MTRN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Materion (MTRN) $4.72B, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) $3.15B, Smart Sand (SND) $190.02M.

Which stock is cheaper, MTRN, USLM and SND?

Smart Sand (SND) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Materion (MTRN) 52.4x, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) 23.4x, Smart Sand (SND) 18.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) is cheapest (Materion (MTRN) 29.7x, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) 23.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Smart Sand (SND) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Materion (MTRN) +21.6%, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) +7.0%, Smart Sand (SND) +26.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) has the highest net margin (Materion (MTRN) 4.3%, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) 35.7%, Smart Sand (SND) 2.7%). On return on invested capital, Materion (MTRN) leads (Materion (MTRN) 8.1%, Smart Sand (SND) 3.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Smart Sand (SND) returned the most: Materion (MTRN) +67.3%, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) -17.3%, Smart Sand (SND) +113.5%. Over five years, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) compounded fastest (Materion (MTRN) +25.5%/yr, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) +36.4%/yr, Smart Sand (SND) +13.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Materion (MTRN) has the highest dividend yield: Materion (MTRN) 0.00%, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) 0.00%, Smart Sand (SND) 0.00%. Smart Sand (SND) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) has been the steadiest (Materion (MTRN) 61.6%, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) 39.0%, Smart Sand (SND) 70.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MTRN, USLM and SND?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, United States Lime & Minerals (USLM) leads on 5. 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.