Compass Group (CPG) Competitors

Compass Group (LON:CPG) and Diploma (LON:DPLM) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, community ranking and media sentiment.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in CPG or DPLM?

76.3% of Compass Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of Diploma shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Compass Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Diploma shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, CPG or DPLM?

Compass Group has higher revenue and earnings than Diploma. Compass 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
Compass Group	£41.28B	1.10	£1.76B	£0.76	3,515.79
Diploma	£1.26B	4.64	£116.10M	£0.86	5,076.74

Does the media refer more to CPG or DPLM?

In the previous week, Compass Group had 6 more articles in the media than Diploma. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Compass Group and 2 mentions for Diploma. Compass Group's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat Diploma's score of 0.25 indicating that Compass Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Compass Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Diploma	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CPG or DPLM?

Compass Group received 274 more outperform votes than Diploma when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 61.84% of users gave Diploma an outperform vote while only 60.11% of users gave Compass Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Compass Group	Outperform Votes 556 60.11%	Underperform Votes 369 39.89%
Diploma	Outperform Votes 282 61.84%	Underperform Votes 174 38.16%

Is CPG or DPLM a better dividend stock?

Compass Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Diploma pays an annual dividend of GBX 57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Compass Group pays out 5,789.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Diploma pays out 6,627.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Compass Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk & volatility, CPG or DPLM?

Compass Group has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Diploma has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate CPG or DPLM?

Compass Group currently has a consensus price target of GBX 2,675, suggesting a potential upside of 0.11%. Diploma has a consensus price target of GBX 4,555, suggesting a potential upside of 4.33%. Given Diploma's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Diploma is more favorable than Compass Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Compass Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Diploma	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Is CPG or DPLM more profitable?

Diploma has a net margin of 9.25% compared to Compass Group's net margin of 4.26%. Compass Group's return on equity of 26.61% beat Diploma's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Compass Group	4.26%	26.61%	7.52%
Diploma	9.25%	13.39%	8.32%

Summary

Compass Group beats Diploma on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.