Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) and Brown Forman (NYSE:BF.A) Head-To-Head Comparison

Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) and Brown Forman (NYSE:BF.A) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Molson Coors Beverage and Brown Forman, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Molson Coors Beverage	4	11	4	0	2.00
Brown Forman	0	0	0	0	0.00

Molson Coors Beverage presently has a consensus price target of $45.71, suggesting a potential upside of 8.27%. Given Molson Coors Beverage’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Molson Coors Beverage is more favorable than Brown Forman.

Profitability

This table compares Molson Coors Beverage and Brown Forman’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Molson Coors Beverage	-16.14%	9.79%	4.63%
Brown Forman	20.64%	19.93%	9.85%

Dividends

Molson Coors Beverage pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Brown Forman pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Molson Coors Beverage pays out -18.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brown Forman pays out 53.5% 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. Molson Coors Beverage has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Molson Coors Beverage is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Molson Coors Beverage and Brown Forman”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Molson Coors Beverage	$13.04 billion	0.61	-$2.14 billion	($10.64)	-3.97
Brown Forman	$3.98 billion	3.10	$869.00 million	$1.72	15.64

Brown Forman has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Molson Coors Beverage. Molson Coors Beverage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brown Forman, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.5% of Molson Coors Beverage shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.8% of Brown Forman shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Molson Coors Beverage shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Brown Forman shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Molson Coors Beverage has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brown Forman has a beta of 0.32, suggesting that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Molson Coors Beverage beats Brown Forman on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Molson Coors Beverage

Molson Coors Beverage Company manufactures, markets, and sells beer and other malt beverage products under various brands in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers flavored malt beverages including hard seltzers, craft, spirits and energy, and ready to drink beverages. It provides its products under Aspall Cider, Blue Moon, Coors Original, Five Trail, Hop Valley brands, Leinenkugel’s, Madri, Miller Genuine Draft, Molson Ultra, Sharp’s, Staropramen, and Vizzy Hard Seltzer above premier brands; Bergenbier, Borsodi, Carling, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Jelen, Kamenitza, Miller Lite, Molson Canadian, and Niksicko, Ozujsko under the premium brands; and Branik, Icehouse, Keystone, Miller High Life, Milwaukee’s Best, and Steel Reserve under the economy brands. The company was formerly known as Molson Coors Brewing Company and changed its name to Molson Coors Beverage Company in January 2020. Molson Coors Beverage Company was founded in 1774 and is based in Golden, Colorado.

About Brown Forman

Brown-Forman Corporation manufactures, bottles, imports, exports, markets, and sells various alcoholic beverages. It provides spirits, wines, whiskey spirits, whiskey-based flavored liqueurs, ready-to-drink and ready-to-pour products, ready-to-drink cocktails, vodkas, tequilas, champagnes, brandy, bourbons, and liqueurs. The company offers its products primarily under the Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve, Canadian Mist, GlenDronach, BenRiach, Glenglassaugh, Old Forester, Early Times, Slane Irish Whiskey, Coopers' Craft, el Jimador, Herradura, New Mix, Pepe Lopez, Antiguo, Finlandia, Korbel Champagne, and Sonoma-Cutrer brands. It is also involved in the sale of used barrels, bulk whiskey, and wine; and provision of contract bottling services. The company serves retail customers and consumers through distributors or state governments; and retailers, wholesalers, and provincial governments directly. It has operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Mexico, and internationally. Brown-Forman Corporation was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.