Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) Competitors

Howden Joinery Group (LON:HWDN) and Diploma (LON:DPLM) are both mid-cap personal services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, HWDN or DPLM?

Howden Joinery Group has higher revenue and earnings than Diploma. Howden Joinery 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
Howden Joinery Group	£2.35B	1.93	£253.42M	£0.46	1,809.94
Diploma	£1.45B	5.11	£115.40M	£1.24	4,456.96

Do analysts prefer HWDN or DPLM?

Howden Joinery Group presently has a consensus target price of GBX 919.67, indicating a potential upside of 9.75%. Diploma has a consensus target price of GBX 5,238, indicating a potential downside of 5.45%. Given Howden Joinery Group's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Howden Joinery Group is more favorable than Diploma.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Howden Joinery Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Diploma	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Does the media prefer HWDN or DPLM?

In the previous week, Diploma had 2 more articles in the media than Howden Joinery Group. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Diploma and 6 mentions for Howden Joinery Group. Howden Joinery Group's average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat Diploma's score of 0.33 indicating that Howden Joinery Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Howden Joinery Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Diploma	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is HWDN or DPLM a better dividend stock?

Howden Joinery Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Diploma pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Howden Joinery Group pays out 45.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Diploma pays out 47.7% 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. Howden Joinery Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

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

67.4% of Howden Joinery Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.5% of Diploma shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Howden Joinery Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Diploma shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, HWDN or DPLM?

Howden Joinery Group has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Diploma has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HWDN or DPLM more profitable?

Howden Joinery Group has a net margin of 10.82% compared to Diploma's net margin of 9.25%. Howden Joinery Group's return on equity of 25.70% beat Diploma's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Howden Joinery Group	10.82%	25.70%	10.70%
Diploma	9.25%	13.18%	8.32%

Summary

Howden Joinery Group beats Diploma on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.