George Weston (WN) Competitors

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) and George Weston (TSE:WN) are both large-cap consumer defensive companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment and dividends.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, L or WN?

Loblaw Companies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than George Weston. Loblaw Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than George Weston, 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
Loblaw Companies	C$60.23B	1.11	C$2.23B	C$7.37	30.08
George Weston	C$60.42B	0.57	C$648.55M	C$5.00	53.18

Does the media prefer L or WN?

In the previous week, Loblaw Companies had 7 more articles in the media than George Weston. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Loblaw Companies and 2 mentions for George Weston. George Weston's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Loblaw Companies' score of -0.14 indicating that George Weston is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Loblaw Companies	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
George Weston	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, L or WN?

Loblaw Companies has a beta of 0.17, indicating that its stock price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, George Weston has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is L or WN more profitable?

Loblaw Companies has a net margin of 3.71% compared to George Weston's net margin of 1.07%. Loblaw Companies' return on equity of 19.90% beat George Weston's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Loblaw Companies	3.71%	19.90%	5.89%
George Weston	1.07%	10.33%	5.75%

Is L or WN a better dividend stock?

Loblaw Companies pays an annual dividend of C$2.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. George Weston pays an annual dividend of C$3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Loblaw Companies pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. George Weston pays out 65.7% 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.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of L or WN?

20.7% of Loblaw Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.2% of George Weston shares are owned by institutional investors. 53.8% of Loblaw Companies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 59.4% of George Weston shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate L or WN?

Loblaw Companies currently has a consensus target price of C$237.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.93%. George Weston has a consensus target price of C$282.42, suggesting a potential upside of 6.30%. Given Loblaw Companies' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Loblaw Companies is more favorable than George Weston.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Loblaw Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
George Weston	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Summary

Loblaw Companies beats George Weston on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.