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8 major consumer and pharmaceutical corporations have bought into marijuana companies to take full advantage of this rapidly growing market and this article compares their stock performance YTD with that of their marijuana partners:

1. Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) has a 45% stake in marijuana grower Cronos Group Inc. (Nasdaq: CRON).
   • YTD:
     • Altria has gone up 28.4%
       • has a beta of 0.64
       • has a current dividend yield of 6.65%
     • Cronos has gone up 28.0%
       • has a beta of 1.73
       • has no dividend
2. Imperial (Tobacco) Brands PLC (LSE: IMB)(IMMBY) has a 19.9% stake in Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (TSXV: XLY)(CBWTF), a vertically-integrated cannabis company with diverse international operations.
   • YTD:
     • Imperial has gone up 5.5%
       • has a beta of 0.88
       • has a current dividend yield of 12.16%
     • Auxly has gone up 50.0%
       • has a beta of 0.74
       • has no dividend
3. Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) owns about 39% of Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED; NYSE: CGC) and should it exercise all its remaining warrants and full conversion of the notes, the company would own over 55% of Canopy Growth shares.
   • YTD:
     • Constellation has gone up 3.7% 
       • has a beta of 1.20
       • has a current dividend yield of 1.34% 
     • Canopy has gone up 17.7%
       • has a beta of 2.15
       • has no dividend
4. Molson Coors Brewing Company (TSX: TPX; NYSE: TAP) has a 57.5%/42.5% joint venture with HEXO Corp. (TSX: HEXO; NYSE: HEXO) known as TRUSS.
   • YTD:
     • Molson has gone up 12.0% 
       • has a beta of 1.11
       • has no dividend
     • HEXO has gone up 75.5%
       • has a beta of 1.74
       • has no dividend
5. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD) has a $100 million joint venture with Canadian grower Tilray Inc. (Nasdaq: TLRY).
   • YTD: 
     • Anheuser has gone down 6.9% 
       • has a beta of 1.53
       • has a current dividend yield of 1.74%
     • Tilray has gone up 139.7%
       • has a beta of 2.79
       • has no dividend
6. Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) has a global agreement with Tilray Inc. (Nasdaq: TLRY) which allows Tilray to use the Sandoz supply chain, sales force, and global distribution network to distribute Tilray medical cannabis products.
   • YTD: 
     • Novartis has gone down 4.0% 
       • has a beta of 0.51
       • has a current dividend yield of 3.66% 
   • Tilray has gone up 139.7%
     • has a beta of 2.79
     • has no dividend
7. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSX: ATD.B; TSX: ATD.A)(ANCUF), one of the world’s largest convenience shop retailers with 16,000 stores in 25 countries, has a 9.9% ownership (with the potential to increase to  50.1% in Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (TSXV: FAF)(FFLWF).
   • YTD:
     • Couche-Tard has gone down 3.0% 
       • has a beta of 0.93
       • has a current dividend yield of 0.84%
     • Fire & Flower has gone up 35.3%
       • has a beta of 2.39
       • has no dividend
8. British American Tobacco (BTI) has a C$221M investment and product development partnership with Organigram Holdings Inc. (OGI).
   • YTD:
     • BAC has gone up 5.9%
       • has a beta of 0.86
       • has a current dividend yield of 7.66%
     • OGI has gone up 129.3%
       • has a beta of 0.99
       • has no dividend

In summary:

The 8 consumer products/pharmaceutical companies:

• are only up 3.4%, on average, YTD, compared to their associated marijuana companies which are up 48.3%, on average, YTD but 
• have a beta (a measure of volatility in stock price) of less than the overall market at 0.96, on average, compared to their associated marijuana companies which have an average beta of 1.91 or double that of the overall market.
• have dividends (excluding Molson Coors) that currently yield 4.2%, on average, while none of the marijuana companies have dividends.

Conclusion

Taking a look at the performance of the above stocks one could conclude that conservative investors who want stable stocks that pay dividends but also would like to be somewhat invested in the marijuana sector might want to consider investing in the above mentioned major corporations rather than in their associated cannabis companies.