Reviewing Weis Markets (WMK) & The Competition

Weis Markets (NYSE:WMK) is one of 149 publicly-traded companies in the “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Weis Markets to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Weis Markets has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Weis Markets’ rivals have a beta of 0.44, suggesting that their average share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Weis Markets and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Weis Markets	0	0	1	0	3.00
Weis Markets Competitors	2242	8271	10040	459	2.41

As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies have a potential upside of 55.71%. Given Weis Markets’ rivals higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Weis Markets has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Weis Markets and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Weis Markets	$5.07 billion	$93.69 million	19.13
Weis Markets Competitors	$34.75 billion	$846.26 million	16.20

Weis Markets’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Weis Markets. Weis Markets is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Weis Markets pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Weis Markets pays out 32.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.7% and pay out 36.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

45.0% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 21.6% of Weis Markets shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.7% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Weis Markets and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Weis Markets	2.06%	7.66%	5.16%
Weis Markets Competitors	-25.88%	3.76%	2.96%

Summary

Weis Markets beats its rivals on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Weis Markets

Weis Markets, Inc. engages in the retail sale of food through a chain of supermarkets in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. The company’s retail food stores sell groceries, dairy products, frozen foods, meats, seafood, fresh produce, floral, pharmacy services, deli products, prepared foods, bakery products, beer and wine, and fuel; and general merchandise items, such as health and beauty care, and household products. It operates stores in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia primarily under the Weis Markets name, as well as Weis, Weis 2 Go, Weis Great Meals Start Here, Weis Gas-n-Go, and Weis Nutri-Facts. Weis Markets, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is based in Sunbury, Pennsylvania.