Head-To-Head Review: Ahold (OTCMKTS:ADRNY) vs. National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE)

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) and Ahold (OTCMKTS:ADRNY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares National Vision and Ahold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Vision	-1.40%	3.44%	1.40%
Ahold	1.98%	15.69%	4.70%

Volatility & Risk

National Vision has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ahold has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for National Vision and Ahold, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Vision	0	5	4	0	2.44
Ahold	0	2	0	1	2.67

National Vision currently has a consensus price target of $18.67, indicating a potential downside of 18.41%. Given National Vision’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe National Vision is more favorable than Ahold.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares National Vision and Ahold”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Vision	$1.82 billion	0.99	-$28.50 million	($0.33)	-69.33
Ahold	$96.70 billion	0.39	$1.91 billion	€2.08 ($2.39)	19.75

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Ahold shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of National Vision shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ahold beats National Vision on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Vision

National Vision Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America’s Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services. National Vision Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.

About Ahold

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. operates retail food stores and e-commerce in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company's stores offer produce, dairy, meat, deli, bakery, seafood, and frozen products; grocery, beer, and wine; floral, pet food, health and beauty care, kitchen and cookware, gardening tools, general merchandise articles, electronics, newspapers and magazines, tobacco, etc.; gasoline; and pharmacy products. It operates its supermarkets, convenience stores, and online stores under the Food Lion, Stop & Shop, The GIANT Company, Hannaford, Giant Food, FreshDirect, Albert Heijn, bol.com, Etos, Gall & Gall, Delhaize, Albert, Alfa Beta Vassilopoulos, Mega Image, Delhaize Serbia, Peapod Digital labs, and Retail Business Service brands. The company was formerly known as Koninklijke Ahold N.V. and changed its name to Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. in July 2016. Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Zaandam, the Netherlands.