WH Smith (SMWH) Competitors

WH Smith (LON:SMWH) 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, media sentiment, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, community ranking, valuation and institutional ownership.

Does the media refer more to SMWH or DPLM?

In the previous week, WH Smith and WH Smith both had 2 articles in the media. Diploma's average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat WH Smith's score of 0.37 indicating that Diploma is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
WH Smith	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Diploma	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, SMWH or DPLM?

WH Smith has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Diploma has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SMWH or DPLM a better dividend stock?

WH Smith pays an annual dividend of GBX 32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Diploma pays an annual dividend of GBX 57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. WH Smith pays out 6,530.6% 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. WH Smith is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts rate SMWH or DPLM?

WH Smith presently has a consensus target price of GBX 1,459.67, suggesting a potential upside of 10.75%. Diploma has a consensus target price of GBX 4,416.67, suggesting a potential upside of 3.00%. Given WH Smith's higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe WH Smith is more favorable than Diploma.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WH Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Diploma	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SMWH or DPLM?

WH Smith received 198 more outperform votes than Diploma when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.53% of users gave WH Smith an outperform vote while only 62.03% of users gave Diploma an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
WH Smith	Outperform Votes 479 62.53%	Underperform Votes 287 37.47%
Diploma	Outperform Votes 281 62.03%	Underperform Votes 172 37.97%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, SMWH or DPLM?

Diploma has lower revenue, but higher earnings than WH Smith. WH Smith 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
WH Smith	£1.86B	0.93	£64M	£0.49	2,689.80
Diploma	£1.26B	4.56	£116.10M	£0.86	4,986.05

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

91.2% of WH Smith shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of Diploma shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of WH Smith shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Diploma shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is SMWH or DPLM more profitable?

Diploma has a net margin of 9.25% compared to WH Smith's net margin of 3.44%. WH Smith's return on equity of 22.29% beat Diploma's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WH Smith	3.44%	22.29%	6.62%
Diploma	9.25%	13.39%	8.32%

Summary

WH Smith beats Diploma on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.