George Weston (WN) Competitors

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) and George Weston (TSE:WN) are both large-cap consumer defensive companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, community ranking and profitability.

Is L or WN a better dividend stock?

Loblaw Companies pays an annual dividend of C$2.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. George Weston pays an annual dividend of C$3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Loblaw Companies pays out 31.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. George Weston pays out 36.9% 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 preferable valuation and earnings, L or WN?

Loblaw Companies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than George Weston. George Weston is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Loblaw Companies, 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
Loblaw Companies	C$60.32B	0.89	C$2.08B	C$6.60	26.71
George Weston	C$60.93B	0.46	C$1.21B	C$8.88	24.13

Which has more volatility and risk, L or WN?

Loblaw Companies has a beta of 0.17, indicating that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, George Weston has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is L or WN more profitable?

Loblaw Companies has a net margin of 3.46% compared to George Weston's net margin of 2.06%. Loblaw Companies' return on equity of 19.22% beat George Weston's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Loblaw Companies	3.46%	19.22%	5.89%
George Weston	2.06%	17.52%	5.75%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor L or WN?

Loblaw Companies received 304 more outperform votes than George Weston when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.60% of users gave Loblaw Companies an outperform vote while only 65.13% of users gave George Weston an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Loblaw Companies	Outperform Votes 644 66.60%	Underperform Votes 323 33.40%
George Weston	Outperform Votes 340 65.13%	Underperform Votes 182 34.87%

Does the media prefer L or WN?

In the previous week, Loblaw Companies had 5 more articles in the media than George Weston. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Loblaw Companies and 5 mentions for George Weston. George Weston's average media sentiment score of 0.58 beat Loblaw Companies' score of -0.19 indicating that George Weston is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Loblaw Companies	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
George Weston	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of L or WN?

20.7% of Loblaw Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.2% of George Weston shares are owned by institutional investors. 53.8% of Loblaw Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 59.4% of George Weston shares are owned 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.

Do analysts prefer L or WN?

Loblaw Companies presently has a consensus target price of C$201.88, suggesting a potential upside of 14.51%. George Weston has a consensus target price of C$252.42, suggesting a potential upside of 17.79%. Given George Weston's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe George Weston is more favorable than Loblaw Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Loblaw Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71
George Weston	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Summary

Loblaw Companies beats George Weston on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.