Analyzing Dole (DOLE) and Its Competitors

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) is one of 38 public companies in the “AGRI OPERATIONS” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Dole to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Dole has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dole’s competitors have a beta of 0.80, suggesting that their average share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Dole pays an annual dividend of $0.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Dole pays out 226.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “AGRI OPERATIONS” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.6% and pay out -89.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Dole has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Dole lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Dole and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dole	$8.97 billion	$125.51 million	93.57
Dole Competitors	$34.14 billion	$103.03 million	3.11

Dole’s competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Dole. Dole is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

44.3% of shares of all “AGRI OPERATIONS” companies are owned by institutional investors. 41.8% of Dole shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of shares of all “AGRI OPERATIONS” companies are owned by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Dole and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dole	0	2	0	0	2.00
Dole Competitors	411	787	1015	38	2.30

Dole presently has a consensus price target of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.00%. As a group, “AGRI OPERATIONS” companies have a potential upside of 51.89%. Given Dole’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Dole has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Dole and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dole	0.28%	8.17%	2.62%
Dole Competitors	-293.40%	-82.89%	-18.09%

Summary

Dole competitors beat Dole on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Dole

Dole Food Company, Inc. (Dole) is a producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. The Company is a producer of bananas and pineapples, and packaged fruit products, packaged salads and fresh-packed vegetables. The Company has three business segments: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged foods. The fresh fruit segment contains operating divisions that produce and market fresh fruit to wholesale, retail and institutional customers worldwide. The fresh vegetables segment produces and markets fresh-packed and value-added vegetables and salads to wholesale, retail and institutional customers, primarily in North America and Europe. The packaged foods segment contains several operating divisions that produce and market packaged foods, including fruit, juices, frozen fruit and healthy snack foods. In November 2013, Dole Food Company, Inc announced that an investor group acquired the remaining 60.43% interest in the Company.