Head-To-Head Analysis: Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) and Dollar General (NYSE:DG)

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) and Dollar General (NYSE:DG) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Andersons has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dollar General has a beta of 0.23, suggesting that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Andersons and Dollar General”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Andersons	$11.01 billion	0.21	$95.71 million	$5.18	12.92
Dollar General	$42.72 billion	0.63	$1.51 billion	$7.69	15.97

Dollar General has higher revenue and earnings than Andersons. Andersons is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dollar General, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.1% of Andersons shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of Dollar General shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Andersons shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Dollar General shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Andersons and Dollar General’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Andersons	1.62%	16.23%	5.84%
Dollar General	3.90%	18.93%	5.21%

Dividends

Andersons pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Dollar General pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Andersons pays out 15.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Dollar General pays out 30.7% 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. Andersons has raised its dividend for 28 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Andersons and Dollar General, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Andersons	0	1	3	1	3.00
Dollar General	1	18	10	0	2.31

Andersons currently has a consensus price target of $95.00, suggesting a potential upside of 41.95%. Dollar General has a consensus price target of $135.46, suggesting a potential upside of 10.30%. Given Andersons’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Andersons is more favorable than Dollar General.

Summary

Dollar General beats Andersons on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc. operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company’s Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil. This segment also engages in the commodity merchandising business, as well as offers logistics for physical commodities, such as whole grains, grain products, feed ingredients, domestic fuel products, and other agricultural commodities. Its Renewables segment produces, purchases, and sells ethanol, and co-products, as well as offers facility operations, risk management, and marketing services to the ethanol plants it invests in and operates. The company’s Nutrient & Industrial segment manufactures, distributes, and retails agricultural and related plant nutrients, liquid industrial products, corncob-based products, and pelleted lime and gypsum products, as well as turf fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide products; and crop nutrients, crop protection chemicals, and seed products, as well as provides application and agronomic services to commercial and family farmers. In addition, this segment produces corncob-based products for laboratory animal bedding and private-label cat litter, as well as absorbents, blast cleaners, carriers, and polishers; professional lawn care products for golf course and turf care markets; fertilizer and weed, and pest control products; dry and liquid agricultural nutrients, pelleted lime, gypsum, and soil amendments; and micronutrients, as well as industrial products comprising nitrogen reagents, calcium nitrate, deicers, and dust abatement products. The Andersons, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in Maumee, Ohio.

About Dollar General

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine. The company's consumable products also comprise snacks, such as candies, cookies, crackers, salty snacks, and carbonated beverages; health and beauty products, including over-the-counter medicines and personal care products, such as soaps, body washes, shampoos, cosmetics, and dental hygiene and foot care products; pet supplies and pet food; and tobacco products. In addition, it offers seasonal products comprising holiday items, toys, batteries, small electronics, greeting cards, stationery, prepaid phones and accessories, gardening supplies, hardware, and automotive and home office supplies; and home products that include kitchen supplies, cookware, small appliances, light bulbs, storage containers, frames, candles, craft supplies and kitchen, and bed and bath soft goods. Further, the company provides apparel, which comprise basic items for infants, toddlers, girls, boys, women, and men, as well as socks, underwear, disposable diapers, shoes, and accessories. The company was formerly known as J.L. Turner & Son, Inc. and changed its name to Dollar General Corporation in 1968. Dollar General Corporation was founded in 1939 and is based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.