Associated British Foods (ABF) Competitors

Cranswick (LON:CWK) and Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Which has more risk and volatility, CWK or ABF?

Cranswick has a beta of 0.44, meaning that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Associated British Foods has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CWK or ABF a better dividend stock?

Cranswick pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Associated British Foods pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Cranswick pays out 37.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated British Foods pays out 35.5% 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. Associated British Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is CWK or ABF more profitable?

Associated British Foods has a net margin of 7.25% compared to Cranswick's net margin of 4.35%. Associated British Foods' return on equity of 13.07% beat Cranswick's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cranswick	4.35%	12.64%	8.26%
Associated British Foods	7.25%	13.07%	5.51%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, CWK or ABF?

Associated British Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Cranswick. Associated British Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cranswick, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cranswick	£2.72B	0.96	£113.74M	£2.46	1,995.12
Associated British Foods	£19.85B	0.77	£1.41B	£1.77	1,206.43

Do analysts rate CWK or ABF?

Cranswick presently has a consensus price target of GBX 5,370, indicating a potential upside of 9.37%. Associated British Foods has a consensus price target of GBX 2,150, indicating a potential upside of 0.51%. Given Cranswick's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cranswick is more favorable than Associated British Foods.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cranswick	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Associated British Foods	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CWK or ABF?

71.2% of Cranswick shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.3% of Associated British Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Cranswick shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Associated British Foods shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor CWK or ABF?

In the previous week, Cranswick had 1 more articles in the media than Associated British Foods. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Cranswick and 2 mentions for Associated British Foods. Associated British Foods' average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Cranswick's score of 0.39 indicating that Associated British Foods is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cranswick	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Associated British Foods	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Associated British Foods beats Cranswick on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.