Village Super Market (NASDAQ:VLGEA) and Weis Markets (NYSE:WMK) Head-To-Head Analysis

Weis Markets (NYSE:WMK) and Village Super Market (NASDAQ:VLGEA) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Weis Markets and Village Super Market, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Weis Markets	0	0	1	0	3.00
Village Super Market	0	0	0	1	4.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.0% of Village Super Market shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.6% of Weis Markets shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 59.1% of Village Super Market shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Weis Markets has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Village Super Market has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Weis Markets and Village Super Market’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Weis Markets	1.99%	7.40%	4.97%
Village Super Market	2.18%	10.23%	5.17%

Dividends

Weis Markets pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Village Super Market pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Weis Markets pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Village Super Market pays out 28.2% 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. Village Super Market is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Weis Markets and Village Super Market”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Weis Markets	$4.96 billion	0.37	$93.69 million	$4.03	18.43
Village Super Market	$2.41 billion	0.26	$52.46 million	$3.55	12.05

Weis Markets has higher revenue and earnings than Village Super Market. Village Super Market is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Weis Markets, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Village Super Market beats Weis Markets on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Village Super Market

Village Super Market, Inc. operates a chain of supermarkets in the United States. The company offers grocery, meat, produce, dairy, deli, seafood, prepared foods, and bakery and frozen foods. It also provides non-food products, including health and beauty care, general merchandise, liquor, and pharmacy products through retail and online stores. Village Super Market, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is based in Springfield, New Jersey.