Volkswagen (VWAGY) versus Its Rivals Critical Review

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Volkswagen	$348.78 billion	$17.97 billion	4.11
Volkswagen Competitors	$50.63 billion	$2.57 billion	16.11

Volkswagen has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Volkswagen is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

Volkswagen has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Volkswagen’s competitors have a beta of 3.62, indicating that their average share price is 262% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Volkswagen and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Volkswagen	3.77%	6.35%	1.96%
Volkswagen Competitors	-1,554.77%	-26.85%	-9.57%

Dividends

Volkswagen pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Volkswagen pays out 24.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Motor vehicles & car bodies” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.3% and pay out 19.3% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

45.8% of shares of all “Motor vehicles & car bodies” companies are owned by institutional investors. 13.7% of shares of all “Motor vehicles & car bodies” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Volkswagen beats its competitors on 6 of the 11 factors compared.

Volkswagen Company Profile

Volkswagen AG manufactures and sells automobiles primarily in Europe, North America, South America, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in four segments: Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, Power Engineering, and Financial Services. The Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles segment develops vehicles and engines, and light commercial vehicles; and produces and sells passenger cars and related parts. The Commercial Vehicles segment develops, produces, and sells trucks and buses; and offers parts and related services. The Power Engineering segment offers large-bore diesel engines, turbomachinery, special gear units, and propulsion components. The Financial Services segment provides dealer and customer financing, leasing, banking and insurance, fleet management, and mobility services. The company also offers motorcycles. It provides its products under the Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, ŠKODA, SEAT, Bentley, Porsche, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania, MAN, Lamborghini, Ducati, and Bugatti brands. Volkswagen AG was incorporated in 1937 and is based in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen AG operates as a subsidiary of Porsche Automobil Holding SE.