Contrasting Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) and Greencore Group (OTCMKTS:GNCGY)

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) and Greencore Group (OTCMKTS:GNCGY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

66.4% of Marzetti shares are held by institutional investors. 29.5% of Marzetti shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Marzetti and Greencore Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marzetti	0	3	2	0	2.40
Greencore Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Marzetti currently has a consensus price target of $206.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.38%. Given Marzetti’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Marzetti is more favorable than Greencore Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Marzetti and Greencore Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marzetti	$1.91 billion	2.43	$167.35 million	$6.07	27.73
Greencore Group	$2.29 billion	0.66	$58.72 million	N/A	N/A

Marzetti has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Greencore Group.

Profitability

This table compares Marzetti and Greencore Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marzetti	8.77%	18.87%	14.77%
Greencore Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Marzetti pays an annual dividend of $3.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Greencore Group pays an annual dividend of $0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Marzetti pays out 62.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Marzetti has increased its dividend for 62 consecutive years. Marzetti is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Marzetti has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greencore Group has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Marzetti beats Greencore Group on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marzetti

Lancaster Colony Corporation engages in the manufacturing and marketing of specialty food products for the retail and foodservice channels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Retail and Foodservice. The company offers frozen garlic bread under the New York BRAND Bakery; frozen Parkerhouse style yeast and dinner rolls under the Sister Schubert's brand; salad dressings under the Marzetti, Simply Dressed, Cardini's, and Girard's brands; vegetable and fruit dips under the Marzetti brand; croutons and salad toppings under the New York BRAND Bakery, Chatham Village, and Marzetti brands; and frozen pasta under the Marzetti Frozen Pasta brand. It also manufactures and sells other products to brand license agreements, including Olive Garden dressings, Buffalo Wild Wings sauces, and Chick-fil-A sauces. The company sells its products through sales personnel, food brokers, and distributors to retailers and restaurants. Lancaster Colony Corporation was incorporated in 1961 and is based in Westerville, Ohio.

About Greencore Group

Greencore Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells convenience food products in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company offers sandwiches, salads, sushi, chilled snacking, chilled ready meals, chilled soups and sauces, chilled quiche, ambient sauces and pickles, and frozen Yorkshire Puddings. It is also involved in the finance activities; pension funding; and property business. The company supplies its products to supermarkets, convenience and travel retail outlets, discounters, coffee shops, foodservice, and other retailers. Greencore Group plc was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.