Head-To-Head Analysis: Pitney Bowes (PBI) vs. Its Competitors

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is one of 354 public companies in the “Commercial Services & Supplies” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Pitney Bowes to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Pitney Bowes has a beta of 1.74, suggesting that its share price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pitney Bowes’ competitors have a beta of 2.52, suggesting that their average share price is 152% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pitney Bowes	10.10%	-30.45%	8.39%
Pitney Bowes Competitors	-49.89%	-119.08%	-1.28%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pitney Bowes and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pitney Bowes	$1.86 billion	$144.70 million	12.23
Pitney Bowes Competitors	$2.48 billion	$140.58 million	4.12

Pitney Bowes’ competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Pitney Bowes. Pitney Bowes 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Pitney Bowes and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pitney Bowes	0	4	3	0	2.43
Pitney Bowes Competitors	1912	6254	9045	665	2.47

Pitney Bowes currently has a consensus target price of $18.45, suggesting a potential upside of 16.96%. As a group, “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 9.93%. Given Pitney Bowes’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Pitney Bowes is more favorable than its competitors.

Dividends

Pitney Bowes pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Pitney Bowes pays out 31.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.5% and pay out 67.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Pitney Bowes has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Pitney Bowes is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

67.9% of Pitney Bowes shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.5% of shares of all “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Pitney Bowes shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.4% of shares of all “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Pitney Bowes beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes is a mailing and shipping technology company that provides products and services to businesses, government organizations and other customers. Its offerings include postage meters, mailing and shipping equipment, package and mail management software, and related support services. The company also provides shipping and mailing services, including solutions that help businesses prepare, process and send mail and parcels. Its products are designed to help customers manage mailing operations, compare shipping options and track shipments.