Ennis (NYSE:EBF) & Black Diamond Group (OTCMKTS:BDIMF) Head-To-Head Analysis

Black Diamond Group (OTCMKTS:BDIMF) and Ennis (NYSE:EBF) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Dividends

Black Diamond Group pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ennis pays an annual dividend of $1.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Black Diamond Group pays out 52.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ennis pays out 68.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Black Diamond Group and Ennis”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Black Diamond Group	$326.99 million	2.83	$24.93 million	$0.25	54.10
Ennis	$392.40 million	1.44	$42.63 million	$1.53	14.62

Ennis has higher revenue and earnings than Black Diamond Group. Ennis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Black Diamond Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Black Diamond Group and Ennis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Black Diamond Group	4.60%	7.24%	2.96%
Ennis	9.81%	12.58%	10.82%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

74.3% of Ennis shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.2% of Black Diamond Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of Ennis shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Black Diamond Group and Ennis, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Black Diamond Group	0	0	1	0	3.00
Ennis	0	1	0	0	2.00

Volatility and Risk

Black Diamond Group has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ennis has a beta of 0.26, meaning that its stock price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ennis beats Black Diamond Group on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Black Diamond Group

Black Diamond Group Limited rents and sells modular space and workforce accommodation solutions. It operates through two segments, Modular Space Solutions and Workforce Solutions. The Modular Space Solutions segment provides modular space rentals to customers in the construction, real estate development, education, manufacturing, health care, financial, government, and defense industries in North America. Its products include office units, lavatories, storage units, large multi-unit office complexes, classroom facilities, banking and health care facilities, high security modular buildings, custom manufactured modular facilities, blast resistant structures, SmartSpace interchangeable paneled units, and storage containers. This segment also sells new and used space rentals units; and provides delivery, installation, project management, and ancillary rental items, products, and services. The Workforce Solutions segment provides workforce housing solutions, including rental of accommodations and surface equipment, and provision of turnkey lodging and travel management logistics services in Canada, the United States, and Australia. This segment also provides associated services, such as installation, transportation, dismantlement, and sale of used fleet assets. This segment primarily serves the resource, infrastructure, construction, disaster recovery, and education sectors. It also provides specialized field rentals to oil and gas industries. The company markets its rental assets, custom sales, and ancillary products and services through in-house sales personnel, its website, social media, web campaigns, and its digital marketplace. Black Diamond Group Limited was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Ennis

Ennis, Inc. manufactures and sells business forms and other business products in the United States. The company offers snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products under the Ennis, Royal Business Forms, Block Graphics, 360º Custom Labels, ColorWorx, Enfusion, Uncompromised Check Solutions, VersaSeal, Ad Concepts, FormSource Limited, Star Award Ribbon Company, Witt Printing, B&D Litho, Genforms, PrintGraphics, Calibrated Forms, PrintXcel, Printegra, Forms Manufacturers, Mutual Graphics, TRI-C Business Forms, Major Business Systems, Independent Printing, Hoosier Data Forms, Hayes Graphics, Wright Business Graphics, Wright 360, Integrated Print & Graphics, the Flesh Company, Impressions Direct, and AmeriPrint brands. It also provides point of purchase advertising under the Adams McClure brand name; presentation and document folders under the Admore, Folder Express, and Independent Folders brands; and custom printed, high-performance labels, and custom and stock tags under the Ennis Tag & Label brand name. In addition, the company offers custom and stock tags and labels under the Allen-Bailey Tag & Label, Atlas Tag & Label, Kay Toledo Tag, and Special Service Partners brands; custom and imprinted envelopes under the Trade Envelopes, Block Graphics, Wisco, and National Imprint Corporation brands; and financial and security documents under the Northstar and General Financial Supply brands; and custom and stock pressure seal documents under the Infoseal and PrintXcel brands. It distributes business products and forms through independent distributors, including business forms distributors, resellers, direct mail, commercial printers, payroll and accounts payable software companies, and advertising agencies. The company was formerly known as Ennis Business Forms, Inc. Ennis, Inc. was incorporated in 1909 and is headquartered in Midlothian, Texas.