Head to Head Contrast: Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) vs. Jewett-Cameron Trading (NASDAQ:JCTC)

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) and Jewett-Cameron Trading (NASDAQ:JCTC) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

74.1% of Lowe’s Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.0% of Jewett-Cameron Trading shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Lowe’s Companies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Jewett-Cameron Trading shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lowe’s Companies and Jewett-Cameron Trading’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lowe’s Companies	8.19%	-47.55%	15.28%
Jewett-Cameron Trading	-2.66%	-5.00%	-4.44%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Lowe’s Companies and Jewett-Cameron Trading, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lowe’s Companies	1	10	14	0	2.52
Jewett-Cameron Trading	0	0	0	0	0.00

Lowe’s Companies currently has a consensus target price of $280.83, suggesting a potential upside of 20.80%. Given Lowe’s Companies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Lowe’s Companies is more favorable than Jewett-Cameron Trading.

Volatility & Risk

Lowe’s Companies has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jewett-Cameron Trading has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lowe’s Companies and Jewett-Cameron Trading”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lowe’s Companies	$83.67 billion	1.57	$7.73 billion	$12.21	19.04
Jewett-Cameron Trading	$46.61 million	0.31	$720,000.00	($0.35)	-11.89

Lowe’s Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Jewett-Cameron Trading. Jewett-Cameron Trading is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lowe’s Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Lowe’s Companies beats Jewett-Cameron Trading on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lowe’s Companies

Lowe’s Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States. The company offers a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating. It also provides home improvement products, such as appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lawn and garden, lumber, kitchens and bath, tools, paint, millwork, hardware, flooring, rough plumbing, building materials, décor, and electrical. In addition, the company offers installation services through independent contractors in various product categories; and extended protection plans and repair services. It sells its national brand-name merchandise and private brand products to professional customers, homeowners, renters, businesses, and government. The company also sells its products through Lowes.com website; and through mobile applications. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. was founded in 1921 and is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.

About Jewett-Cameron Trading

Jewett-Cameron Trading Company Ltd. is a supplier of `Value-added` building materials to major home improvement center chains in the western United States. The Company concentrates on the residential repair and remodeling segment of the building materials industry.