Ahold (OTCMKTS:ADRNY) and Unilever (NYSE:UL) Financial Review

Ahold (OTCMKTS:ADRNY) and Unilever (NYSE:UL) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Ahold has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unilever has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ahold and Unilever’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ahold	2.02%	15.88%	4.71%
Unilever	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.2% of Ahold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Unilever shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Unilever shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Ahold pays an annual dividend of €0.93 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Unilever pays an annual dividend of $2.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Ahold pays out 42.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Unilever pays out 59.3% 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ahold and Unilever”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ahold	$96.70 billion	0.38	$1.91 billion	€2.19	18.31
Unilever	$59.77 billion	2.56	$6.22 billion	$3.49	17.87

Unilever has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ahold. Unilever is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ahold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ahold and Unilever, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ahold	0	3	0	1	2.50
Unilever	2	2	3	2	2.56

Unilever has a consensus price target of $73.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.08%. Given Unilever’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Unilever is more favorable than Ahold.

Summary

Unilever beats Ahold on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ahold

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. operates retail food stores and e-commerce in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company's stores offer produce, dairy, meat, deli, bakery, seafood, and frozen products; grocery, beer, and wine; floral, pet food, health and beauty care, kitchen and cookware, gardening tools, general merchandise articles, electronics, newspapers and magazines, tobacco, etc.; gasoline; and pharmacy products. It operates its supermarkets, convenience stores, and online stores under the Food Lion, Stop & Shop, The GIANT Company, Hannaford, Giant Food, FreshDirect, Albert Heijn, bol.com, Etos, Gall & Gall, Delhaize, Albert, Alfa Beta Vassilopoulos, Mega Image, Delhaize Serbia, Peapod Digital labs, and Retail Business Service brands. The company was formerly known as Koninklijke Ahold N.V. and changed its name to Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. in July 2016. Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Zaandam, the Netherlands.

About Unilever

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through five segments: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The Beauty & Wellbeing segment engages in the sale of hair care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and styling; skin care products including face, hand, and body moisturizer; and prestige beauty and health & wellbeing products consist of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements. The Personal Care segment offers skin cleansing products comprising soap and shower; deodorants; and oral care products, such as toothpaste, toothbrush, and mouthwash products. The Home Care segment is involved in the sale of fabric care products, including washing powders and liquids, and rinse conditioners; and fabric enhancers, and home and hygiene products. The Nutrition segment provides dressings products, such as mayonnaise and ketchup; sells scratch cooking aids consist of soups, bouillons, and seasonings; plant-based meat; beverages; and functional nutrition products, including Horlicks and Boost, as well as tea products. The Ice Cream segment offers ice cream products including in-home and out-of-home ice creams. The company provides its products under the AXE, Ben & Jerry's, Cif, Clear, Closeup, Comfort, Cornetto, Dermalogica, Domestos, Dove, Dove Men+Care, Hellmann's, Horlicks, Knorr, LUX, Lifebuoy, Liquid I.V., Magnum, Nutrafol, OMO, Paula's Choice, Pepsodent, Pond's, Rexona, Rexona, Sunlight, Sunsilk, Surf, TRESemmé, Vaseline, Wall's, Breyers, and Yasso brand names. Unilever PLC was founded in 1860 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.