Head-To-Head Analysis: J d Wetherspoon (OTCMKTS:JDWPY) and Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

J d Wetherspoon (OTCMKTS:JDWPY) and Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

J d Wetherspoon has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Yum! Brands has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares J d Wetherspoon and Yum! Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
J d Wetherspoon	N/A	N/A	N/A
Yum! Brands	18.11%	-21.01%	24.18%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for J d Wetherspoon and Yum! Brands, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
J d Wetherspoon	0	0	0	0	0.00
Yum! Brands	0	11	12	0	2.52

Yum! Brands has a consensus price target of $166.29, suggesting a potential upside of 11.41%. Given Yum! Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Yum! Brands is more favorable than J d Wetherspoon.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

82.4% of Yum! Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Yum! Brands shares are held 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares J d Wetherspoon and Yum! Brands”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
J d Wetherspoon	$2.76 billion	0.35	$88.36 million	N/A	N/A
Yum! Brands	$7.91 billion	5.24	$1.49 billion	$5.07	29.44

Yum! Brands has higher revenue and earnings than J d Wetherspoon.

Dividends

J d Wetherspoon pays an annual dividend of $1.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Yum! Brands pays an annual dividend of $2.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands pays out 56.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Yum! Brands has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Summary

Yum! Brands beats J d Wetherspoon on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About J d Wetherspoon

J D Wetherspoon plc owns and operates pubs and hotels in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Watford, the United Kingdom.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products. The company was formerly known as TRICON Global Restaurants, Inc. and changed its name to Yum! Brands, Inc. in May 2002. Yum! Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.