Head to Head Comparison: George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF) and John B. Sanfilippo & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS)

George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF) and John B. Sanfilippo & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Dividends

George Weston pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. John B. Sanfilippo & Son pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. George Weston pays out 31.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. John B. Sanfilippo & Son pays out 16.0% 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. John B. Sanfilippo & Son has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. John B. Sanfilippo & Son is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

George Weston has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John B. Sanfilippo & Son has a beta of 0.36, meaning that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares George Weston and John B. Sanfilippo & Son”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
George Weston	$44.97 billion	0.59	$991.80 million	$2.71	25.46
John B. Sanfilippo & Son	$1.13 billion	0.75	$58.93 million	$5.62	12.91

George Weston has higher revenue and earnings than John B. Sanfilippo & Son. John B. Sanfilippo & Son is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than George Weston, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares George Weston and John B. Sanfilippo & Son’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
George Weston	1.67%	12.84%	3.29%
John B. Sanfilippo & Son	5.84%	19.17%	11.43%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of George Weston shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.6% of John B. Sanfilippo & Son shares are held by institutional investors. 53.6% of George Weston shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 30.2% of John B. Sanfilippo & Son shares are held 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for George Weston and John B. Sanfilippo & Son, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
George Weston	0	2	4	0	2.67
John B. Sanfilippo & Son	1	0	1	1	2.67

John B. Sanfilippo & Son has a consensus target price of $109.00, indicating a potential upside of 50.26%. Given John B. Sanfilippo & Son’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe John B. Sanfilippo & Son is more favorable than George Weston.

Summary

John B. Sanfilippo & Son beats George Weston on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About George Weston

George Weston Limited provides food and drug retailing, and financial services in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) and Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (Choice Properties). The Loblaw segment provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, and financial services. This segment also offers credit card and other banking services, insurance brokerage services, guaranteed investment certificates, and wireless mobile products and services. The Choice Properties segment owns, operates, manages, and develops retail commercial and residential properties, leased to necessity-based tenants, industrial, and mixed-use and residential assets. It markets its products under the Shoppers Drug Mart, Joe Fresh, President’s Choice Bank, no name, Farmer’s Market, T&T, Life Brand, and PC Optimum brands. The company was founded in 1882 and is based in Toronto, Canada. George Weston Limited operates as a subsidiary of Wittington Investments, Limited.

About John B. Sanfilippo & Son

John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. engages in the processing and distribution of nuts and nut-related products. It offers peanuts, pecans, cashews, walnuts, almonds, and other nuts under the brands of Fisher, Orchard Valley Harvest, Squirrel Brand, and Southern Style Nuts. The company was founded by Gaspare Sanfilippo and John B. Sanfilippo in 1922 and is headquartered in Elgin, IL.