Comparing George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF) & Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG)

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) and George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Conagra Brands and George Weston, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Conagra Brands	3	10	1	0	1.86
George Weston	0	2	4	1	2.86

Conagra Brands currently has a consensus target price of $21.92, indicating a potential upside of 25.99%. Given Conagra Brands’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Conagra Brands is more favorable than George Weston.

Dividends

Conagra Brands pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. George Weston pays an annual dividend of $0.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Conagra Brands pays out 79.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. George Weston pays out 31.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Conagra Brands has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Conagra Brands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.8% of Conagra Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of George Weston shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Conagra Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 53.6% of George Weston shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Conagra Brands and George Weston’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Conagra Brands	7.42%	11.72%	4.95%
George Weston	1.67%	12.84%	3.29%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Conagra Brands and George Weston”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Conagra Brands	$11.45 billion	0.73	$1.15 billion	$1.76	9.88
George Weston	$44.97 billion	0.57	$991.80 million	$2.71	24.75

Conagra Brands has higher earnings, but lower revenue than George Weston. Conagra Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than George Weston, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Conagra Brands has a beta of 0.03, suggesting that its share price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, George Weston has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

George Weston beats Conagra Brands on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer packaged goods food company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice segments. The Grocery & Snacks segment primarily offers shelf stable food products through various retail channels. The Refrigerated & Frozen segment provides temperature-controlled food products through various retail channels. The International segment offers food products in various temperature states through retail and foodservice channels outside of the United States. The Foodservice segment offers branded and customized food products, including meals, entrees, sauces, and various custom-manufactured culinary products packaged for restaurants and other foodservice establishments. The company sells its products under the Birds Eye, Marie Callender's, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, Angie's, BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera brands. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About George Weston

George Weston Limited provides food and drug retailing, and financial services in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) and Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (Choice Properties). The Loblaw segment provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, and financial services. This segment also offers credit card and other banking services, insurance brokerage services, guaranteed investment certificates, and wireless mobile products and services. The Choice Properties segment owns, operates, manages, and develops retail commercial and residential properties, leased to necessity-based tenants, industrial, and mixed-use and residential assets. It markets its products under the Shoppers Drug Mart, Joe Fresh, President’s Choice Bank, no name, Farmer’s Market, T&T, Life Brand, and PC Optimum brands. The company was founded in 1882 and is based in Toronto, Canada. George Weston Limited operates as a subsidiary of Wittington Investments, Limited.