Weis Markets (NYSE:WMK – Get Free Report) and Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE – Get Free Report) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.
Dividends
Weis Markets pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Andersons pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Weis Markets pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Andersons pays out 15.4% 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. Andersons has increased its dividend for 28 consecutive years.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Weis Markets and Andersons, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Weis Markets | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Andersons | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3.20 |
Andersons has a consensus price target of $95.00, suggesting a potential upside of 45.92%. Given Andersons’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Andersons is more favorable than Weis Markets.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
87.1% of Andersons shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.6% of Weis Markets shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Andersons shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk & Volatility
Weis Markets has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Andersons has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Weis Markets and Andersons’ 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% |
| Andersons | 1.62% | 16.23% | 5.84% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Weis Markets and Andersons”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Weis Markets | $4.96 billion | 0.40 | $93.69 million | $4.03 | 19.90 |
| Andersons | $10.94 billion | 0.20 | $95.71 million | $5.18 | 12.57 |
Andersons has higher revenue and earnings than Weis Markets. Andersons 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
Andersons beats Weis Markets on 13 of the 18 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 Andersons
The Andersons, Inc. operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company’s Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil. This segment also engages in the commodity merchandising business, as well as offers logistics for physical commodities, such as whole grains, grain products, feed ingredients, domestic fuel products, and other agricultural commodities. Its Renewables segment produces, purchases, and sells ethanol, and co-products, as well as offers facility operations, risk management, and marketing services to the ethanol plants it invests in and operates. The company’s Nutrient & Industrial segment manufactures, distributes, and retails agricultural and related plant nutrients, liquid industrial products, corncob-based products, and pelleted lime and gypsum products, as well as turf fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide products; and crop nutrients, crop protection chemicals, and seed products, as well as provides application and agronomic services to commercial and family farmers. In addition, this segment produces corncob-based products for laboratory animal bedding and private-label cat litter, as well as absorbents, blast cleaners, carriers, and polishers; professional lawn care products for golf course and turf care markets; fertilizer and weed, and pest control products; dry and liquid agricultural nutrients, pelleted lime, gypsum, and soil amendments; and micronutrients, as well as industrial products comprising nitrogen reagents, calcium nitrate, deicers, and dust abatement products. The Andersons, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in Maumee, Ohio.
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