Reviewing High Liner Foods (HLNFF) & The Competition

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

Dividends

High Liner Foods pays an annual dividend of $0.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. High Liner Foods pays out 34.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Food Products” companies pay a dividend yield of 11.7% and pay out 31.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. High Liner Foods lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares High Liner Foods and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
High Liner Foods	N/A	N/A	10.62
High Liner Foods Competitors	$7.24 billion	$702.20 million	-324.56

High Liner Foods’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than High Liner Foods. High Liner 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
High Liner Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
High Liner Foods Competitors	-13.56%	-146.28%	-4.54%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

28.1% of High Liner Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.0% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are owned by institutional investors. 18.1% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for High Liner Foods and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
High Liner Foods	0	1	1	0	2.50
High Liner Foods Competitors	2359	8192	8272	398	2.35

As a group, “Food Products” companies have a potential upside of 12.19%. Given High Liner Foods’ peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe High Liner Foods has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

High Liner Foods peers beat High Liner Foods on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About High Liner Foods

High Liner Foods Incorporated processes and markets frozen seafood products in North America. It provides a range of frozen seafood products, including raw fillets and shellfish, and cooked shellfish; and value-added products, such as sauced, glazed, breaded and battered seafood, seafood entrees, and breaded cheese sticks under High Liner, Fisher Boy, Sea Cuisine, C. Wirthy, Mirabel, Catch of the Day, High Liner Culinary, Icelandic Seafood, and FPI brands. The company sells its products through distributors to retail and club stores; foodservice distributors to hotels, restaurants, and healthcare and educational organizations; and its website. High Liner Foods Incorporated was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Lunenburg, Canada.