Head-To-Head Review: Loblaw Companies (OTCMKTS:LBLCF) versus Empire (OTCMKTS:EMLAF)

Empire (OTCMKTS:EMLAF) and Loblaw Companies (OTCMKTS:LBLCF) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Empire and Loblaw Companies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Empire	N/A	N/A	N/A	$2.61	12.47
Loblaw Companies	$44.53 billion	1.20	$1.58 billion	$0.50	90.64

Loblaw Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Empire. Empire is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Loblaw Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Empire and Loblaw Companies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Empire	0	3	2	0	2.40
Loblaw Companies	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares Empire and Loblaw Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Empire	N/A	N/A	N/A
Loblaw Companies	3.93%	22.74%	6.30%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

36.6% of Empire shares are owned by institutional investors. 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.

Summary

Loblaw Companies beats Empire on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Empire

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Farm Boy, Longo's, and Lawtons Drugs; and operates grocery e-commerce stores under the banners, such as Voilà, Grocery Gateway, IGA.net, and ThriftyFoods.com. It also owns interest in the Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust, an open-ended real estate investment trust to own, operate, and develop a portfolio of grocery and pharmacy-anchored shopping centers, freestanding stores, and mixed-use developments; and various equity accounted interests in Genstar partnerships that develop residential real estate properties in Ontario, Western Canada, and the United States. Empire Company Limited was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Stellarton, Canada.

About Loblaw Companies

Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparels, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services in Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Financial Services. The Retail segment operates corporate and franchise-owned retail food, and associate-owned drug stores. This segment also includes in-store pharmacies, health care services, other health and beauty product stores, apparel stores, and other general merchandise stores. The Financial Services segment provides credit card and banking services, the PC Optimum loyalty program, insurance brokerage services, and telecommunication services. The company offers PC Health app. It provides its products and services under various brands. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Brampton, Canada. Loblaw Companies Limited operates as a subsidiary of George Weston Limited.