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, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, community ranking, valuation and institutional ownership.

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 3.3%. Empire pays an annual dividend of C$0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. 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.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in 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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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	0.92	C$131.51M	C$2.72	18.03
Empire	C$30.87B	0.21	C$672M	C$2.74	16.94

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NWC or EMP.A?

Empire received 80 more outperform votes than North West when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 51.60% of users gave North West an outperform vote while only 45.23% 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 289 45.23%	Underperform Votes 350 54.77%

Do analysts rate NWC or EMP.A?

North West presently has a consensus target price of C$53.20, suggesting a potential upside of 8.46%. Empire has a consensus target price of C$48.86, suggesting a potential upside of 5.25%. Given North West's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities 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 media refer more to NWC or EMP.A?

In the previous week, Empire had 10 more articles in the media than North West. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Empire and 0 mentions for North West. Empire's average media sentiment score of 0.03 beat North West's score of 0.00 indicating that Empire is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
North West	Neutral
Empire	Neutral

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%

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

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

Summary

North West beats Empire on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.