Kerry Group (OTCMKTS:KRYAY) versus Campbell’s (NASDAQ:CPB) Critical Review

Campbell’s (NASDAQ:CPB) and Kerry Group (OTCMKTS:KRYAY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Campbell’s and Kerry Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Campbell’s	$10.25 billion	0.65	$602.00 million	$1.83	12.23
Kerry Group	$7.64 billion	1.65	$745.03 million	N/A	N/A

Kerry Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Campbell’s.

Profitability

This table compares Campbell’s and Kerry Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Campbell’s	5.48%	19.96%	5.21%
Kerry Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Campbell’s pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Kerry Group pays an annual dividend of $1.67 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Campbell’s pays out 85.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Campbell’s and Kerry Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Campbell’s	7	11	2	0	1.75
Kerry Group	0	1	3	0	2.75

Campbell’s currently has a consensus price target of $27.47, indicating a potential upside of 22.75%. Given Campbell’s’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Campbell’s is more favorable than Kerry Group.

Volatility & Risk

Campbell’s has a beta of -0.03, indicating that its stock price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kerry Group has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.4% of Campbell’s shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Kerry Group shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Campbell’s shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Campbell’s beats Kerry Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Campbell’s

The Campbell’s Company, formerly known as Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Meals & Beverages segment engages in the retail and foodservice businesses in the United States and Canada. This segment provides Campbell’s condensed and ready-to-serve soups; Swanson broth and stocks; Pacific Foods broth, soups, and non-dairy beverages; Prego pasta sauces; Pace Mexican sauces; Campbell’s gravies, pasta, beans, and dinner sauces; Swanson canned poultry; V8 juices and beverages; Campbell’s tomato juice; and snacking products in foodservice in Canada. The Snacks segment retails Pepperidge Farm cookies, crackers, fresh bakery, and frozen products, which include Goldfish crackers, Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels, Lance sandwich crackers, Cape Cod and Kettle Brand potato chips, Late July snacks, Snack Factory pretzel crisps, Pop Secret popcorn, and other snacking products. This segment is also involved in the retail business in Latin America. It sells its products through retail food chains, mass discounters and merchandisers, club stores, convenience stores, drug stores, and dollar stores, as well as e-commerce and other retail, commercial, and non-commercial establishments, and independent contractor distributors. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey.

About Kerry Group

Kerry Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides taste and nutrition solutions. The company operates in two segments, Taste & Nutrition, and Dairy Ireland. The Taste & Nutrition segment offers taste and nutrition solutions for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical markets. The Dairy Ireland segment provides value-add dairy ingredients and consumer products, including functional proteins and nutritional bases. It operates in Ireland, rest of Europe, the Americas, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Kerry Group plc was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Tralee, Ireland.