Ennis (EBF) and Its Competitors Critical Review

Ennis (NYSE:EBF) is one of 355 publicly-traded companies in the “Commercial Services & Supplies” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Ennis to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Ennis pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Ennis pays out 59.9% 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 71.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Ennis is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Ennis and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ennis	10.84%	13.89%	11.89%
Ennis Competitors	-60.93%	-129.15%	-1.45%

Risk & Volatility

Ennis has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ennis’ peers have a beta of 2.91, meaning that their average share price is 191% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Ennis and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ennis	0	1	0	0	2.00
Ennis Competitors	1835	6116	9002	656	2.48

As a group, “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 10.76%. Given Ennis’ peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ennis has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ennis and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ennis	$393.82 million	$42.63 million	13.21
Ennis Competitors	$2.46 billion	$140.19 million	22.32

Ennis’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Ennis. Ennis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.3% of Ennis shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.6% of shares of all “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Ennis shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of shares of all “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ennis peers beat Ennis on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Ennis Company Profile

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.