Analyzing McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) and George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF)

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) and George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.7% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of George Weston shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.8% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 53.6% of George Weston shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for McCormick & Company, Incorporated and George Weston, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
McCormick & Company, Incorporated	0	7	4	0	2.36
George Weston	0	2	1	1	2.75

McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has a consensus target price of $78.22, suggesting a potential upside of 21.70%. Given McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe McCormick & Company, Incorporated is more favorable than George Weston.

Dividends

McCormick & Company, Incorporated pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. George Weston pays an annual dividend of $0.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated pays out 62.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. George Weston pays out 46.7% 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. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has raised its dividend for 38 consecutive years. McCormick & Company, Incorporated is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares McCormick & Company, Incorporated and George Weston’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
McCormick & Company, Incorporated	11.46%	14.30%	6.05%
George Weston	1.67%	12.84%	3.29%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares McCormick & Company, Incorporated and George Weston”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
McCormick & Company, Incorporated	$6.79 billion	2.54	$788.50 million	$2.89	22.24
George Weston	$44.97 billion	0.52	$991.80 million	$1.84	33.29

George Weston has higher revenue and earnings than McCormick & Company, Incorporated. McCormick & Company, Incorporated is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than George Weston, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, George Weston has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

McCormick & Company, Incorporated beats George Weston on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

McCormick & Co., Inc. engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. It operates through the Consumer and Flavor Solutions segments. The Consumer segment sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and sauces. The Flavor Solutions segment includes seasoning blends, spices and herbs, condiments, coating systems, and compound flavors. The company was founded by Willoughby M. McCormick in 1889 and is headquartered in Baltimore, MD.

About George Weston

George Weston Limited provides food and drug retailing, and financial services in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) and Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (Choice Properties). The Loblaw segment provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, and financial services. This segment also offers credit card and other banking services, insurance brokerage services, guaranteed investment certificates, and wireless mobile products and services. The Choice Properties segment owns, operates, manages, and develops retail commercial and residential properties, leased to necessity-based tenants, industrial, and mixed-use and residential assets. It markets its products under the Shoppers Drug Mart, Joe Fresh, President’s Choice Bank, no name, Farmer’s Market, T&T, Life Brand, and PC Optimum brands. The company was founded in 1882 and is based in Toronto, Canada. George Weston Limited operates as a subsidiary of Wittington Investments, Limited.