Critical Review: Jeronimo Martins SGPS (JRONY) versus Its Competitors

Jeronimo Martins SGPS (OTCMKTS:JRONY) is one of 150 publicly-traded companies in the “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Jeronimo Martins SGPS to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Jeronimo Martins SGPS and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jeronimo Martins SGPS	1	0	3	1	2.80
Jeronimo Martins SGPS Competitors	2204	8087	9790	444	2.41

As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies have a potential upside of 52.80%. Given Jeronimo Martins SGPS’s peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Jeronimo Martins SGPS has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Volatility & Risk

Jeronimo Martins SGPS has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jeronimo Martins SGPS’s peers have a beta of 0.44, indicating that their average share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Jeronimo Martins SGPS and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jeronimo Martins SGPS	$40.71 billion	$732.02 million	16.94
Jeronimo Martins SGPS Competitors	$34.15 billion	$827.71 million	18.79

Jeronimo Martins SGPS has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Jeronimo Martins SGPS is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

45.0% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 19.7% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Jeronimo Martins SGPS and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jeronimo Martins SGPS	1.73%	20.03%	4.24%
Jeronimo Martins SGPS Competitors	-28.43%	1.55%	2.00%

Dividends

Jeronimo Martins SGPS pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Jeronimo Martins SGPS pays out 39.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.7% and pay out 37.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Jeronimo Martins SGPS lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Jeronimo Martins SGPS beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Jeronimo Martins SGPS

Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A. operates in the food distribution and specialized retail sectors in Portugal, Poland, and Colombia. The company operates through Portugal Retail; Portugal Cash & Carry; Poland Retail; Colombia Retail; and Others, Eliminations and Adjustments segments. It operates food stores under the Biedronka name; and a chain of health and beauty stores under the Hebe banner in Poland, as well as food stores under the Ara name in Colombia. The company also operates supermarkets under the Pingo Doce banner; and cash and carry stores under the Recheio name in Portugal, and under the Bodega del Canasto name in Colombia. In addition, it operates restaurants under the Pingo Doce name; para-pharmacies and petrol stations under Bem-Estar brand; and clothing under Code brand. Further, the company operates coffee shops and kiosks under the Jeronymo name; and chocolates and confectionary retail stores under Hussel name. Additionally, the company engages in human resources top management, real estate management and administration, training, and saline brackish waters aquaculture; wholesale of fruit and vegetables; retail management, consultancy, and logistics activities; purchase and sale of real estate; growing of crops and farming of animals; retail sale of health and beauty products; manufacture of milk and dairy products; rental of air transport equipment; and provision of business portfolio management, financial, and sea passenger water transport services. It is also involved in the trading and distribution of consumer goods; retail and wholesale of non-food products; other business support service activities; and provision of services in the area of wholesale and retail distribution. The company was founded in 1792 and is headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A. operates as a subsidiary of Sociedade Francisco Manuel Dos Santos, S.G.P.S., S.A.