Financial Comparison: Dole (DOLE) and Its Peers

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) is one of 38 public companies in the “AGRI OPERATIONS” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Dole to similar companies based on the strength of its profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.7% of shares of all “AGRI OPERATIONS” companies are owned by institutional investors. 41.8% of Dole shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.6% of shares of all “AGRI OPERATIONS” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Dole has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dole’s rivals have a beta of 0.80, suggesting that their average stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Dole pays an annual dividend of $0.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Dole pays out 226.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “AGRI OPERATIONS” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.6% and pay out -89.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Dole has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Dole lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Dole and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dole	0.28%	8.17%	2.62%
Dole Competitors	-293.47%	-82.89%	-18.09%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Dole and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dole	0	2	0	0	2.00
Dole Competitors	411	786	1015	38	2.30

Dole currently has a consensus price target of $16.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.16%. As a group, “AGRI OPERATIONS” companies have a potential upside of 52.09%. Given Dole’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Dole has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dole and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dole	$8.97 billion	$125.51 million	93.43
Dole Competitors	$34.14 billion	$103.03 million	3.05

Dole’s rivals have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Dole. Dole is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Dole rivals beat Dole on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Dole Company Profile

Dole Food Company, Inc. (Dole) is a producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. The Company is a producer of bananas and pineapples, and packaged fruit products, packaged salads and fresh-packed vegetables. The Company has three business segments: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged foods. The fresh fruit segment contains operating divisions that produce and market fresh fruit to wholesale, retail and institutional customers worldwide. The fresh vegetables segment produces and markets fresh-packed and value-added vegetables and salads to wholesale, retail and institutional customers, primarily in North America and Europe. The packaged foods segment contains several operating divisions that produce and market packaged foods, including fruit, juices, frozen fruit and healthy snack foods. In November 2013, Dole Food Company, Inc announced that an investor group acquired the remaining 60.43% interest in the Company.