Comparing Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY) & Imperial Tobacco Group (OTCMKTS:IMBBY)

Imperial Tobacco Group (OTCMKTS:IMBBY) and Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Imperial Tobacco Group has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Japan Tob has a beta of 0.34, indicating that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Imperial Tobacco Group and Japan Tob”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Imperial Tobacco Group	$42.02 billion	0.77	$2.70 billion	N/A	N/A
Japan Tob	$23.20 billion	2.81	$3.42 billion	$0.91	20.19

Japan Tob has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Imperial Tobacco Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Imperial Tobacco Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Imperial Tobacco Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Imperial Tobacco Group and Japan Tob, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Imperial Tobacco Group	0	1	1	0	2.50
Japan Tob	1	1	0	0	1.50

Japan Tob has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.46%. Given Japan Tob’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Japan Tob is more favorable than Imperial Tobacco Group.

Dividends

Imperial Tobacco Group pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Japan Tob pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Japan Tob pays out 23.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Imperial Tobacco Group and Japan Tob’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Imperial Tobacco Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Japan Tob	14.55%	11.97%	6.14%

Summary

Imperial Tobacco Group beats Japan Tob on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Imperial Tobacco Group

Imperial Brands PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, imports, markets, and sells tobacco and tobacco-related products in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It offers a range of cigarettes, tobacco accessories, vapour, heated tobacco, and oral nicotine. The company sells its products under various brands, including JPS, Davidoff, Gauloises, West, Winston, Kool, Lambert & Butler, Fortuna, Nobel, News, Backwoods, Champion, Golden Virginia, Rizla, Blu, Pulze, Skruf, and Zone X. In addition, it engages in the distribution of tobacco and NGP products for tobacco and NGP product manufacturers; and various non-tobacco and NGP products and services. Further, the company is involved in the management of a golf course; distribution of pharmaceuticals, POS software, and published materials and other products; printing and publishing activities; and provision of long haul transportation, industrial parcel and express delivery, pharmaceutical products logistics, advertising, payment, and support management services, as well as owns the trademarks; and retails its products. Additionally, it engages in distribution of books; waste management, leaf processing related activities. Furthermore, the company is involved in research and development of e-vapour products. The company was formerly known as Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and changed its name to Imperial Brands PLC in February 2016. Imperial Brands PLC was founded in 1636 and is based in Bristol, the United Kingdom.

About Japan Tob

Japan Tobacco Inc., a tobacco company, manufactures and sells tobacco products, pharmaceuticals, and processed foods in Japan and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Tobacco Business, Pharmaceutical, and Processed Food. It offers tobacco products, such as cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco products, E-vapor products, fine cut tobacco products, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco products, and hookah and kretek products. The company also provides reduced-risk products, including infused tobacco capsules and heated tobacco sticks. In addition, it researches and develops, manufactures, and sells prescription drugs for the therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, kidney and metabolism, immunity/inflammation, and central nervous system. Further, the company provides frozen and room-temperature products, such as frozen udon noodles, packed rice, and frozen okonomiyaki; bakery products; and seasonings, including yeast extracts, assembled, kelp and bonito extracts, and oyster sauces. It offers its products under the Winston, Camel, MEVIUS, and LD brands. Japan Tobacco Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.