Contrasting Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (RMCF) & Its Peers

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (NASDAQ:RMCF) is one of 328 publicly-traded companies in the “Food Products” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to related companies based on the strength of its risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Dividends

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 58.4%. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory pays out -72.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Food Products” companies pay a dividend yield of 12.5% and pay out 29.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory	-22.25%	-130.90%	-30.50%
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Competitors	-13.64%	-142.51%	-2.58%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

50.3% of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.2% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are owned by institutional investors. 25.2% of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.3% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory	$27.07 million	-$4.56 million	-1.25
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Competitors	$6.97 billion	$702.59 million	-2,414.51

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory	1	0	0	0	1.00
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Competitors	2426	8266	8342	400	2.35

As a group, “Food Products” companies have a potential upside of 19.53%. Given Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Risk & Volatility

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s peers have a beta of -3.85, indicating that their average share price is 485% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory peers beat Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a confectionery franchisor, manufacturer, and retail operator. It operates through Franchising, Manufacturing, Retail Stores, and Other segments. The company produces approximately 400 chocolate candies and other confectionery products, including clusters, caramels, creams, toffees, mints, and truffles; and offers 15 varieties of caramel apples and other products that are prepared in individual stores, as well as provides ice cream, coffee, and other sundries. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Durango, Colorado.