Head-To-Head Analysis: Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) vs. Loblaw Companies (OTCMKTS:LBLCF)

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) and Loblaw Companies (OTCMKTS:LBLCF) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Andersons and Loblaw Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Andersons	1.62%	16.23%	5.84%
Loblaw Companies	4.28%	25.59%	6.93%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.1% of Andersons shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Andersons shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Andersons and Loblaw Companies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Andersons	0	0	4	1	3.20
Loblaw Companies	0	0	0	0	0.00

Andersons presently has a consensus target price of $95.00, suggesting a potential upside of 35.76%. Given Andersons’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Andersons is more favorable than Loblaw Companies.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Andersons and Loblaw Companies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Andersons	$11.01 billion	0.22	$95.71 million	$5.18	13.51
Loblaw Companies	$45.73 billion	1.12	$1.91 billion	$1.69	26.25

Loblaw Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Andersons. Andersons is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Loblaw Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Andersons pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Loblaw Companies pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Andersons pays out 15.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Loblaw Companies pays out 26.6% 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. Andersons has raised its dividend for 28 consecutive years. Andersons is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Andersons beats Loblaw Companies on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc. operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company’s Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil. This segment also engages in the commodity merchandising business, as well as offers logistics for physical commodities, such as whole grains, grain products, feed ingredients, domestic fuel products, and other agricultural commodities. Its Renewables segment produces, purchases, and sells ethanol, and co-products, as well as offers facility operations, risk management, and marketing services to the ethanol plants it invests in and operates. The company’s Nutrient & Industrial segment manufactures, distributes, and retails agricultural and related plant nutrients, liquid industrial products, corncob-based products, and pelleted lime and gypsum products, as well as turf fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide products; and crop nutrients, crop protection chemicals, and seed products, as well as provides application and agronomic services to commercial and family farmers. In addition, this segment produces corncob-based products for laboratory animal bedding and private-label cat litter, as well as absorbents, blast cleaners, carriers, and polishers; professional lawn care products for golf course and turf care markets; fertilizer and weed, and pest control products; dry and liquid agricultural nutrients, pelleted lime, gypsum, and soil amendments; and micronutrients, as well as industrial products comprising nitrogen reagents, calcium nitrate, deicers, and dust abatement products. The Andersons, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in Maumee, Ohio.

About Loblaw Companies

Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparels, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services in Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Financial Services. The Retail segment operates corporate and franchise-owned retail food, and associate-owned drug stores. This segment also includes in-store pharmacies, health care services, other health and beauty product stores, apparel stores, and other general merchandise stores. The Financial Services segment provides credit card and banking services, the PC Optimum loyalty program, insurance brokerage services, and telecommunication services. The company offers PC Health app. It provides its products and services under various brands. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Brampton, Canada. Loblaw Companies Limited operates as a subsidiary of George Weston Limited.