Critical Contrast: Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) and George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF)

George Weston (OTCMKTS:WNGRF) and Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
George Weston	1.54%	14.12%	3.38%
Grove Collaborative	-4.07%	N/A	-12.35%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of George Weston shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Grove Collaborative shares are held by institutional investors. 53.6% of George Weston shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 30.3% of Grove Collaborative shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

George Weston has a beta of 0.44, meaning that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grove Collaborative has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares George Weston and Grove Collaborative”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
George Weston	$46.17 billion	0.59	$817.33 million	$1.86	39.16
Grove Collaborative	$173.72 million	0.26	-$11.72 million	($0.19)	-5.55

George Weston has higher revenue and earnings than Grove Collaborative. Grove Collaborative is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than George Weston, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for George Weston and Grove Collaborative, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
George Weston	0	1	4	0	2.80
Grove Collaborative	1	0	1	0	2.00

Grove Collaborative has a consensus target price of $2.00, indicating a potential upside of 89.57%. Given Grove Collaborative’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Grove Collaborative is more favorable than George Weston.

Summary

George Weston beats Grove Collaborative on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative Holdings, Inc. operates as a plastic neutral consumer products retailer in the United States. It offers household, personal care, beauty, and other consumer products through retail channels, third parties, direct-to-consumer platform, and mobile applications, as well as online store. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.