Tyson Foods (TSN) versus Its Peers Critical Review

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) is one of 330 public companies in the “Food Products” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Tyson Foods to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Dividends

Tyson Foods pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Tyson Foods pays out 125.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Food Products” companies pay a dividend yield of 12.2% and pay out 31.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Tyson Foods has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Tyson Foods lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Tyson Foods and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tyson Foods	$54.44 billion	$474.00 million	32.59
Tyson Foods Competitors	$7.21 billion	$701.03 million	-2,377.54

Tyson Foods has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Tyson Foods is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Tyson Foods has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tyson Foods’ peers have a beta of -3.82, indicating that their average share price is 482% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Tyson Foods and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tyson Foods	1	7	5	0	2.31
Tyson Foods Competitors	2394	8233	8312	402	2.35

Tyson Foods presently has a consensus target price of $67.89, suggesting a potential upside of 28.59%. As a group, “Food Products” companies have a potential upside of 17.66%. Given Tyson Foods’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Tyson Foods is more favorable than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Tyson Foods and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tyson Foods	1.03%	7.77%	3.94%
Tyson Foods Competitors	-13.36%	-146.32%	-4.54%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

67.0% of Tyson Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.2% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Tyson Foods shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.1% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are held 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.

Summary

Tyson Foods beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Tyson Foods Company Profile

Tyson Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The company processes live fed cattle and hogs; fabricates dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, as well as case ready beef and pork, and fully cooked meats; raises and processes chickens into fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products, including breaded chicken strips, nuggets, patties, and other ready-to-fix or fully cooked chicken parts; and supplies poultry breeding stock. It also manufactures and markets frozen and refrigerated food products, including ready-to-eat sandwiches, flame-grilled hamburgers, Philly steaks, pepperoni, bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, flour and corn tortilla products, appetizers, snacks, prepared meals, ethnic foods, side dishes, meat dishes, breadsticks, and processed meats under the Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, ibp, and State Fair brands. The company sells its products through its sales staff to grocery retailers, grocery wholesalers, meat distributors, warehouse club stores, military commissaries, industrial food processing companies, chain restaurants or their distributors, live markets, international export companies, and domestic distributors who serve restaurants and food service operations, such as plant and school cafeterias, convenience stores, hospitals, and other vendors, as well as through independent brokers and trading companies. The company was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas.