Head to Head Analysis: Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) and Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEB)

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEB) and Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.4% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Smithfield Foods shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Seneca Foods and Smithfield Foods”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seneca Foods	$1.77 billion	N/A	N/A	$3.08	57.60
Smithfield Foods	$15.53 billion	0.48	$987.00 million	$2.68	7.07

Smithfield Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Seneca Foods. Smithfield Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seneca Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Seneca Foods and Smithfield Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seneca Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
Smithfield Foods	6.84%	15.55%	8.84%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Seneca Foods and Smithfield Foods, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seneca Foods	0	1	0	0	2.00
Smithfield Foods	1	2	4	0	2.43

Smithfield Foods has a consensus price target of $29.20, indicating a potential upside of 54.05%. Given Smithfield Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Smithfield Foods is more favorable than Seneca Foods.

Summary

Smithfield Foods beats Seneca Foods on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seneca Foods

Seneca Foods Corporation provides packaged fruits and vegetables in the United States and internationally. The company offers canned, frozen, and bottled produce; and snack chips and other food products under the private label, as well as under various national and regional brands that the company owns or licenses, including Seneca, Libby's, Aunt Nellie's, READ, Green Valley, Paradise, Seneca Farms, and CherryMan. It also packs Green Giant, Le Sueur, and other brands of canned vegetables, as well as select Green Giant frozen vegetables for B&G Foods North America under a contract packing agreement. In addition, the company engages in the sale of cans and ends, as well as trucking and aircraft operations. It provides its products to grocery outlets, including supermarkets, mass merchandisers, limited assortment stores, club stores, and dollar stores; and food service distributors, industrial markets, other food packagers, and export customers in 90 countries, as well as federal, state, and local governments for school and other feeding programs. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Marion, New York.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc. produces and markets a variety of fresh meat and packaged meats products both domestically and internationally. The Company operates in four segments: Pork, Hog Production, International and Corporate, each of which consists of a number of subsidiaries, joint ventures and other investments. The Pork segment consists mainly of its three wholly owned United States fresh pork and packaged meats subsidiaries: The Smithfield Packing Company, Inc. (Smithfield Packing), Farmland Foods, Inc. (Farmland Foods) and John Morrell Food Group (John Morrell). The Hog Production segment consists of the Company’s hog production operations located in the United States. On September 2012 (fiscal 2013), the Company acquired a 70% controlling interest in American Skin Food Group, LLC. Effective September 26, 2013, Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd merged with Smithfield Foods Inc, a producer and wholesaler of pork meat products.