Associated British Foods (ABF) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ABF or CWK?

Associated British Foods received 758 more outperform votes than Cranswick when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.94% of users gave Associated British Foods an outperform vote while only 63.82% of users gave Cranswick an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Associated British Foods	Outperform Votes 1162 72.94%	Underperform Votes 431 27.06%
Cranswick	Outperform Votes 404 63.82%	Underperform Votes 229 36.18%

Which has more volatility and risk, ABF or CWK?

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

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in ABF or CWK?

18.5% of Associated British Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.6% of Cranswick shares are held by institutional investors. 58.1% of Associated British Foods shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Cranswick 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.

Is ABF or CWK a better dividend stock?

Associated British Foods pays an annual dividend of GBX 54 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Cranswick pays an annual dividend of GBX 90 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Associated British Foods pays out 3,483.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cranswick pays out 4,306.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Associated British Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is ABF or CWK more profitable?

Associated British Foods has a net margin of 5.92% compared to Cranswick's net margin of 4.35%. Cranswick's return on equity of 12.89% beat Associated British Foods' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Associated British Foods	5.92%	10.69%	5.51%
Cranswick	4.35%	12.89%	8.26%

Which has better valuation & earnings, ABF or CWK?

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
Associated British Foods	£19.92B	0.74	£1.18B	£1.55	1,294.31
Cranswick	£2.60B	1.01	£113.10M	£2.09	2,346.89

Do analysts prefer ABF or CWK?

Associated British Foods currently has a consensus target price of GBX 2,220, suggesting a potential upside of 10.66%. Cranswick has a consensus target price of GBX 3,423, suggesting a potential downside of 30.21%. Given Associated British Foods' higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Associated British Foods is more favorable than Cranswick.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Associated British Foods	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Cranswick	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media favor ABF or CWK?

In the previous week, Associated British Foods had 4 more articles in the media than Cranswick. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Associated British Foods and 0 mentions for Cranswick. Cranswick's average media sentiment score of 0.00 beat Associated British Foods' score of -0.21 indicating that Cranswick is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Associated British Foods	Neutral
Cranswick	Neutral

Summary

Associated British Foods beats Cranswick on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.