Financial Contrast: George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF) and Coles Group (OTCMKTS:CLEGF)

Coles Group (OTCMKTS:CLEGF) and George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Coles Group and George Weston, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coles Group	0	0	2	0	3.00
George Weston	0	1	0	1	3.00

Coles Group presently has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 96.43%. Given Coles Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Coles Group is more favorable than George Weston.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Coles Group and George Weston”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coles Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
George Weston	$44.54 billion	0.47	$1.14 billion	$7.12	22.58

George Weston has higher revenue and earnings than Coles Group.

Profitability

This table compares Coles Group and George Weston’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coles Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
George Weston	1.06%	11.75%	3.14%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of George Weston shares are owned by institutional investors. 53.6% of George Weston shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

George Weston beats Coles Group on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Coles Group

Coles Group Limited operates as a retailer in Australia. It operates through Supermarkets and Liquor segments. The company operates various supermarkets; and coles.com.au, which offers a choice of home delivery, including same-day, overnight drop and go services, and pick up from click and collect locations. Its Coles Financial Services provides insurance, credit cards, and personal loans to Australian families. The company is also involved in the retailing of liquor through its various stores under the Liquorland, First Choice, First Choice Liquor, and Vintage Cellars brand names. In addition, it operates as flybuys loyalty program. The company was formerly known as Coles Myer Ltd. and changed its name to Coles Group Limited. Coles Group Limited was founded in 1914 and is based in Hawthorn East, Australia.

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.