Medifast (MED) Competitors

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) and Medifast (NYSE:MED) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends and profitability.

Is LW or MED a better dividend stock?

Lamb Weston pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Medifast pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 48.1%. Lamb Weston pays out 59.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Medifast pays out -1,015.4% 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. Lamb Weston has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Medifast is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is LW or MED more profitable?

Lamb Weston has a net margin of 5.54% compared to Medifast's net margin of -1.29%. Lamb Weston's return on equity of 27.99% beat Medifast's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamb Weston	5.54%	27.99%	6.43%
Medifast	-1.29%	6.63%	4.81%

Which has more risk & volatility, LW or MED?

Lamb Weston has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medifast has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor LW or MED?

In the previous week, Lamb Weston had 14 more articles in the media than Medifast. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Lamb Weston and 6 mentions for Medifast. Lamb Weston's average media sentiment score of 0.97 beat Medifast's score of 0.06 indicating that Lamb Weston is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lamb Weston	12 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Medifast	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer LW or MED?

Lamb Weston presently has a consensus target price of $67.40, suggesting a potential upside of 20.42%. Medifast has a consensus target price of $16.50, suggesting a potential upside of 20.18%. Given Lamb Weston's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Lamb Weston is more favorable than Medifast.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamb Weston	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30
Medifast	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, LW or MED?

Lamb Weston has higher revenue and earnings than Medifast. Medifast is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lamb 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
Lamb Weston	$6.45B	1.21	$357.20M	$2.51	22.30
Medifast	$543.45M	0.28	$2.09M	-$0.65	-21.12

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of LW or MED?

89.6% of Lamb Weston shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Medifast shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Lamb Weston shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Medifast shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Lamb Weston beats Medifast on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.