North West (NWC) Competitors

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) and North West (TSE:NWC) are both mid-cap consumer defensive companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, media sentiment, community ranking, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend EMP.A or NWC?

Empire presently has a consensus target price of C$48.86, suggesting a potential downside of 0.66%. North West has a consensus target price of C$57.50, suggesting a potential upside of 6.90%. Given North West's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe North West is more favorable than Empire.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Empire	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
North West	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.25

Is EMP.A or NWC more profitable?

North West has a net margin of 5.14% compared to Empire's net margin of 2.18%. North West's return on equity of 18.43% beat Empire's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Empire	2.18%	12.94%	4.60%
North West	5.14%	18.43%	8.69%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, EMP.A or NWC?

Empire has higher revenue and earnings than North West. Empire is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than North West, 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
Empire	C$30.87B	0.22	C$672M	C$2.74	17.95
North West	C$2.56B	1.01	C$131.51M	C$2.72	19.78

Is EMP.A or NWC a better dividend stock?

Empire pays an annual dividend of C$0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. North West pays an annual dividend of C$1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Empire pays out 29.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. North West pays out 58.8% 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.

Does the media favor EMP.A or NWC?

In the previous week, North West had 5 more articles in the media than Empire. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for North West and 4 mentions for Empire. North West's average media sentiment score of 0.42 beat Empire's score of 0.34 indicating that North West is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Empire	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
North West	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more risk & volatility, EMP.A or NWC?

Empire has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, North West has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in EMP.A or NWC?

40.9% of Empire shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.0% of North West shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Empire shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of North West shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in EMP.A or NWC?

Empire received 78 more outperform votes than North West when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 51.72% of users gave North West an outperform vote while only 45.23% of users gave Empire an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Empire	Outperform Votes 289 45.23%	Underperform Votes 350 54.77%
North West	Outperform Votes 211 51.72%	Underperform Votes 197 48.28%

Summary

North West beats Empire on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.