Grafton Group (GFTU) Competitors

Grafton Group (LON:GFTU) and Diploma (LON:DPLM) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Do analysts recommend GFTU or DPLM?

Grafton Group presently has a consensus target price of GBX 1,100, indicating a potential upside of 20.46%. Diploma has a consensus target price of GBX 5,092.50, indicating a potential downside of 2.91%. Given Grafton Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Grafton Group is more favorable than Diploma.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grafton Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Diploma	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has higher valuation & earnings, GFTU or DPLM?

Grafton Group has higher revenue and earnings than Diploma. Grafton Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Diploma, 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
Grafton Group	£2.21B	0.81	£127.90M	£65.21	14.00
Diploma	£1.25B	5.60	£115.40M	£87.00	60.29

Which has more volatility & risk, GFTU or DPLM?

Grafton Group has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Diploma has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to GFTU or DPLM?

In the previous week, Diploma had 4 more articles in the media than Grafton Group. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Diploma and 0 mentions for Grafton Group. Grafton Group's average media sentiment score of 0.75 beat Diploma's score of 0.61 indicating that Grafton Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Grafton Group	Positive
Diploma	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in GFTU or DPLM?

58.3% of Grafton Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of Diploma shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.5% of Grafton Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Diploma shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is GFTU or DPLM more profitable?

Diploma has a net margin of 9.25% compared to Grafton Group's net margin of 5.79%. Diploma's return on equity of 13.18% beat Grafton Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grafton Group	5.79%	8.08%	3.60%
Diploma	9.25%	13.18%	8.32%

Is GFTU or DPLM a better dividend stock?

Grafton Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 37 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Diploma pays an annual dividend of GBX 57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Grafton Group pays out 56.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Diploma pays out 65.5% 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. Grafton Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Grafton Group and Diploma tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.