Weis Markets (NYSE:WMK) & BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Critical Review

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) and Weis Markets (NYSE:WMK) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

BJ’s Wholesale Club has a beta of 0.21, suggesting that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Weis Markets has a beta of 0.45, suggesting that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.6% of BJ’s Wholesale Club shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of BJ’s Wholesale Club shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.6% of Weis Markets shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares BJ’s Wholesale Club and Weis Markets’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BJ’s Wholesale Club	2.64%	27.40%	7.69%
Weis Markets	1.99%	7.40%	4.97%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for BJ’s Wholesale Club and Weis Markets, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BJ’s Wholesale Club	1	9	10	0	2.45
Weis Markets	0	0	1	0	3.00

BJ’s Wholesale Club presently has a consensus price target of $106.06, suggesting a potential upside of 15.67%. Given BJ’s Wholesale Club’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe BJ’s Wholesale Club is more favorable than Weis Markets.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BJ’s Wholesale Club and Weis Markets”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BJ’s Wholesale Club	$22.81 billion	0.51	$578.38 million	$4.57	20.06
Weis Markets	$5.07 billion	0.34	$93.69 million	$4.03	17.41

BJ’s Wholesale Club has higher revenue and earnings than Weis Markets. Weis Markets is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BJ’s Wholesale Club, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

BJ’s Wholesale Club beats Weis Markets on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. engages in the operation of membership warehouse clubs. Its product categories include grocery, household and pet, television and electronics, furniture, computer and tablets, patio and outdoor living, lawn and garden, baby and kids, toys, home, health and beauty, appliances, and jewelry. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Marlborough, MA.

About Weis Markets

Weis Markets, Inc. engages in the retail sale of food through a chain of supermarkets in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. The company’s retail food stores sell groceries, dairy products, frozen foods, meats, seafood, fresh produce, floral, pharmacy services, deli products, prepared foods, bakery products, beer and wine, and fuel; and general merchandise items, such as health and beauty care, and household products. It operates stores in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia primarily under the Weis Markets name, as well as Weis, Weis 2 Go, Weis Great Meals Start Here, Weis Gas-n-Go, and Weis Nutri-Facts. Weis Markets, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is based in Sunbury, Pennsylvania.