Universal (UVV) Competitors

Universal (NYSE:UVV) and Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Is UVV or PM more profitable?

Philip Morris International has a net margin of 7.89% compared to Universal's net margin of 4.31%. Universal's return on equity of 8.92% beat Philip Morris International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Universal	4.31%	8.92%	4.43%
Philip Morris International	7.89%	-120.08%	15.76%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of UVV or PM?

81.0% of Universal shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Philip Morris International shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Universal shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Philip Morris International shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is UVV or PM a better dividend stock?

Universal pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Philip Morris International pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Universal pays out 86.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Philip Morris International pays out 111.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Universal has raised its dividend for 56 consecutive years and Philip Morris International has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Universal is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, UVV or PM?

Philip Morris International has higher revenue and earnings than Universal. Universal is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Philip Morris International, 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
Universal	$2.95B	0.51	$119.60M	$3.78	15.96
Philip Morris International	$38.39B	7.46	$7.06B	$4.85	37.94

Do analysts recommend UVV or PM?

Philip Morris International has a consensus price target of $176.80, suggesting a potential downside of 3.92%. Given Philip Morris International's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Philip Morris International is more favorable than Universal.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Universal	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Philip Morris International	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in UVV or PM?

Philip Morris International received 636 more outperform votes than Universal when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 58.15% of users gave Universal an outperform vote while only 58.06% of users gave Philip Morris International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Universal	Outperform Votes 182 58.15%	Underperform Votes 131 41.85%
Philip Morris International	Outperform Votes 818 58.06%	Underperform Votes 591 41.94%

Does the media favor UVV or PM?

In the previous week, Philip Morris International had 37 more articles in the media than Universal. MarketBeat recorded 60 mentions for Philip Morris International and 23 mentions for Universal. Philip Morris International's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Universal's score of -0.09 indicating that Philip Morris International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Universal	2 Very Positive mention(s)	8 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Philip Morris International	47 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, UVV or PM?

Universal has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Philip Morris International has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Philip Morris International beats Universal on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.