Financial Review: Nestle (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) & Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) and Nestle (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Albertsons Companies and Nestle”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Albertsons Companies	$80.39 billion	0.11	$958.60 million	$1.55	10.88
Nestle	$107.99 billion	2.37	$10.90 billion	N/A	N/A

Nestle has higher revenue and earnings than Albertsons Companies.

Volatility and Risk

Albertsons Companies has a beta of 0.45, suggesting that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nestle has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Albertsons Companies pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Nestle pays an annual dividend of $2.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Albertsons Companies pays out 38.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Albertsons Companies has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Albertsons Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Albertsons Companies and Nestle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Albertsons Companies	1.06%	38.00%	4.32%
Nestle	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Albertsons Companies and Nestle, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Albertsons Companies	2	5	9	0	2.44
Nestle	1	2	1	0	2.00

Albertsons Companies currently has a consensus price target of $21.58, indicating a potential upside of 27.94%. Given Albertsons Companies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Albertsons Companies is more favorable than Nestle.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.4% of Albertsons Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.6% of Nestle shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Albertsons Companies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Albertsons Companies beats Nestle on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Albertsons Companies

Albertsons Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of food and drug stores in the United States. The company’s food and drug retail stores offer grocery products, general merchandise, health and beauty care products, pharmacy, fuel, and other items and services. It also manufactures and processes food products for sale in stores. It operates stores under various banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Market Street, Haggen, Kings Food Markets, and Balducci’s Food Lovers Market; and pharmacies, in-store branded coffee shops, adjacent fuel centers, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities, as well as various digital platforms. Albertsons Companies, Inc. was founded in 1860 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Albertsons Companies, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Albertsons Investor Holdings LLC.

About Nestle

Nestlé S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food and beverage company. The company operates through Zone North America; Zone Europe; Zone Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Zone Latin America; Zone Greater China; Nespresso; and Nestlé Health Science segments. It offers baby foods under the Cerelac, Gerber, Nido, and NaturNes brands; bottled water under the Nestlé Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, Buxton, Erikli, and S.Pellegrino brands; cereals under the Fitness, Nesquik, cheerios, and Lion Cereals brands; and chocolate and confectionery products under the KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Nestlé Les Recettes de l'Atelier, Milkybar, Baci Perugina, Quality Street, and Fitness brands. The company provides coffee products under the Nescafé, Nespresso, Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Starbucks Coffee At Home, and Blue Bottle Coffee brands; culinary, chilled, and frozen foods under the Maggi, DiGiorno, Thomy, Garden Gourmet, Sweet Earth, Hot Pockets, Stouffer's, Buitoni, Lean, and Life Cuisine brands; dairy products under the Carnation, Nido, Bear, Coffee-Mate, and La Laitière brands; and drinks under the Nesquik, Nestea, Nescafé, and Milo brands. In addition, it offers food service products under the Milo, Nescafé, Maggi, Chef, Nestea, Stouffer's, Chef-Mate, Minor's, and Lean Cuisine brand names; healthcare nutrition products under the Boost, Garden of Life, Nature's Bounty, Persona, Vital Proteins, Solgar, Peptamen, Resource, Vitaflo, Impact, and Compleat brands; ice cream products under the Movenpick, Häagen-Dazs, Nestlé Ice Cream, and Extrême brands; and pet care products under the Purina, ONE, Alpo, Felix, Pro Plan, Cat Chow, Fancy Feast, Bakers, Friskies, Dog Chow, Beneful, and Gourmet brands. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.