Critical Contrast: Ennis (EBF) & Its Competitors

Ennis (NYSE:EBF) is one of 354 publicly-traded companies in the “Commercial Services & Supplies” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Ennis to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk and earnings.

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 64.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Ennis is clearly a better dividend stock than its rivals, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ennis	$393.82 million	$42.63 million	13.35
Ennis Competitors	$2.44 billion	$140.15 million	22.83

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Ennis and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ennis	0	1	0	0	2.00
Ennis Competitors	1815	6098	8977	655	2.48

As a group, “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 10.57%. Given Ennis’ rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ennis has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Ennis and its rivals’ 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	-61.40%	-127.53%	-1.37%

Volatility & Risk

Ennis has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ennis’ rivals have a beta of 2.45, suggesting that their average share price is 145% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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

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.