Financial Survey: J d Wetherspoon (OTCMKTS:JDWPY) vs. Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) and J d Wetherspoon (OTCMKTS:JDWPY) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Darden Restaurants and J d Wetherspoon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Darden Restaurants	8.92%	52.44%	9.10%
J d Wetherspoon	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Darden Restaurants and J d Wetherspoon, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Darden Restaurants	0	9	20	0	2.69
J d Wetherspoon	0	0	0	0	0.00

Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus price target of $224.78, suggesting a potential upside of 11.89%. Given Darden Restaurants’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Darden Restaurants is more favorable than J d Wetherspoon.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Darden Restaurants and J d Wetherspoon”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Darden Restaurants	$12.58 billion	1.84	$1.05 billion	$9.54	21.06
J d Wetherspoon	$2.76 billion	0.34	$88.36 million	N/A	N/A

Darden Restaurants has higher revenue and earnings than J d Wetherspoon.

Volatility & Risk

Darden Restaurants has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J d Wetherspoon has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.6% of Darden Restaurants shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Darden Restaurants shares 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.

Dividends

Darden Restaurants pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. J d Wetherspoon pays an annual dividend of $1.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Darden Restaurants pays out 62.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Darden Restaurants has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Darden Restaurants is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Darden Restaurants beats J d Wetherspoon on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names. Darden Restaurants, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is based in Orlando, Florida.

About J d Wetherspoon

J D Wetherspoon plc owns and operates pubs and hotels in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Watford, the United Kingdom.