Financial Contrast: Ennis (EBF) and The Competition

Ennis (NYSE:EBF) is one of 354 public companies in the “Commercial Services & Supplies” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Ennis to related companies based on the strength of its earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Ennis and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ennis	10.84%	13.89%	11.89%
Ennis Competitors	-60.96%	-122.75%	-1.36%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Ennis and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ennis	0	1	0	0	2.00
Ennis Competitors	1808	6078	8954	650	2.48

As a group, “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 10.11%. Given Ennis’ competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ennis has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Ennis pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Ennis pays out 59.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.5% and pay out 62.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Ennis is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

Ennis has a beta of 0.27, indicating that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ennis’ competitors have a beta of 2.44, indicating that their average stock price is 144% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ennis and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ennis	$392.40 million	$42.63 million	13.23
Ennis Competitors	$2.43 billion	$139.27 million	24.23

Ennis’ competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Ennis. Ennis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

74.3% of Ennis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.5% of shares of all “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Ennis shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of shares of all “Commercial Services & Supplies” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ennis competitors beat Ennis on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Ennis Company Profile

Ennis, Inc. manufactures and sells business forms and other business products in the United States. The company offers snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products under the Ennis, Royal Business Forms, Block Graphics, 360º Custom Labels, ColorWorx, Enfusion, Uncompromised Check Solutions, VersaSeal, Ad Concepts, FormSource Limited, Star Award Ribbon Company, Witt Printing, B&D Litho, Genforms, PrintGraphics, Calibrated Forms, PrintXcel, Printegra, Forms Manufacturers, Mutual Graphics, TRI-C Business Forms, Major Business Systems, Independent Printing, Hoosier Data Forms, Hayes Graphics, Wright Business Graphics, Wright 360, Integrated Print & Graphics, the Flesh Company, Impressions Direct, and AmeriPrint brands. It also provides point of purchase advertising under the Adams McClure brand name; presentation and document folders under the Admore, Folder Express, and Independent Folders brands; and custom printed, high-performance labels, and custom and stock tags under the Ennis Tag & Label brand name. In addition, the company offers custom and stock tags and labels under the Allen-Bailey Tag & Label, Atlas Tag & Label, Kay Toledo Tag, and Special Service Partners brands; custom and imprinted envelopes under the Trade Envelopes, Block Graphics, Wisco, and National Imprint Corporation brands; and financial and security documents under the Northstar and General Financial Supply brands; and custom and stock pressure seal documents under the Infoseal and PrintXcel brands. It distributes business products and forms through independent distributors, including business forms distributors, resellers, direct mail, commercial printers, payroll and accounts payable software companies, and advertising agencies. The company was formerly known as Ennis Business Forms, Inc. Ennis, Inc. was incorporated in 1909 and is headquartered in Midlothian, Texas.