Comparing Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NYSE:NGVC) and Seven & i (OTC:SVNDF)

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NYSE:NGVC – Get Rating) and Seven & i (OTC:SVNDF – Get Rating) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage and Seven & i, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage	0	0	0	0	N/A
Seven & i	1	0	0	0	1.00

Dividends

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Seven & i pays an annual dividend of 57.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 130.2%. Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage pays out 54.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Seven & i pays out 28.8% 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. Seven & i is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.1% of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.6% of Seven & i shares are owned by institutional investors. 59.4% of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage shares are owned 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage and Seven & i’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage	$1.09 billion	0.22	$21.36 million	$0.73	14.77
Seven & i	N/A	N/A	N/A	197.96	0.22

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage has higher revenue and earnings than Seven & i. Seven & i is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage and Seven & i’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage	1.54%	10.81%	2.55%
Seven & i	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage beats Seven & i on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage

(Get Rating)

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. engages in the retail of natural and organic groceries and dietary supplements. Its products include natural & organic food, dietary supplements, natural body care, household, and pet care products. The company was founded by Margaret Isely and Henry Philip Isely in 1955 and is headquartered in Lakewood, CO.

About Seven & i

(Get Rating)

Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. engages in retail, food, financial, and IT businesses in Japan, North America, and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Domestic Convenience Store operations, Overseas Convenience Store Operations, Superstore Operations, Department Store Operations, Financial Services, Specialty Stores Operations, and Others. The company's Domestic Convenience Store Operations segment operates convenience stores comprising directly managed corporate stores and franchised stores. Its Overseas Convenience Store Operations segment engages in convenience store operation and gasoline retail businesses. The company's Superstore Operations segment operates retail business that provide daily life necessities, such as food and other daily necessities. Its Department Store Operations operates department stores that provide various merchandise products. The company's Financial Services segment offers banking, leasing, and credit card services. Its Specialty Store Operations segment operates specialty retail stores. The company's others segment engages in real estate and other businesses. It operates approximately 22,500 stores in Japan and 71,800 stores internationally. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.