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

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

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
George Weston	$44.97 billion	0.59	$991.80 million	$2.71	25.46
Conagra Brands	$11.45 billion	0.75	$1.15 billion	$1.76	10.14

Conagra Brands has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of George Weston shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.8% of Conagra Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 53.6% of George Weston shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Conagra Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for George Weston and Conagra Brands, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
George Weston	0	2	4	0	2.67
Conagra Brands	3	10	1	0	1.86

Conagra Brands has a consensus price target of $21.50, indicating a potential upside of 20.48%. Given Conagra Brands’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Conagra Brands is more favorable than George Weston.

Dividends

George Weston pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Conagra Brands pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.8%. George Weston pays out 31.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. 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.

Profitability

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

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

Summary

George Weston beats Conagra Brands on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.