North West (NWC) Competitors

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

Is NWC or EMP.A a better dividend stock?

North West pays an annual dividend of C$1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Empire pays an annual dividend of C$0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. North West pays out 58.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Empire pays out 29.2% 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.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, NWC or EMP.A?

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
North West	C$2.56B	0.87	C$131.51M	C$2.72	16.95
Empire	C$30.87B	0.20	C$672M	C$2.74	15.69

Is NWC or EMP.A 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
North West	5.14%	18.43%	8.69%
Empire	2.18%	12.94%	4.60%

Do analysts recommend NWC or EMP.A?

North West currently has a consensus price target of C$53.20, suggesting a potential upside of 15.38%. Empire has a consensus price target of C$48.57, suggesting a potential upside of 12.98%. Given North West's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe North West is more favorable than Empire.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
North West	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Empire	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NWC or EMP.A?

Empire received 79 more outperform votes than North West when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 51.60% of users gave North West an outperform vote while only 45.14% of users gave Empire an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
North West	Outperform Votes 209 51.60%	Underperform Votes 196 48.40%
Empire	Outperform Votes 288 45.14%	Underperform Votes 350 54.86%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of NWC or EMP.A?

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

Does the media favor NWC or EMP.A?

In the previous week, North West had 4 more articles in the media than Empire. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for North West and 2 mentions for Empire. Empire's average media sentiment score of 0.46 beat North West's score of 0.39 indicating that Empire is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

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

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

Summary

North West beats Empire on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.