Financial Contrast: Willamette Valley Vineyards (NASDAQ:WVVI) versus Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM)

Willamette Valley Vineyards (NASDAQ:WVVI) and Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Willamette Valley Vineyards and Boston Beer, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Willamette Valley Vineyards	1	0	0	0	1.00
Boston Beer	2	9	1	0	1.92

Boston Beer has a consensus price target of $208.82, suggesting a potential downside of 5.55%. Given Boston Beer’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Boston Beer is more favorable than Willamette Valley Vineyards.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.2% of Willamette Valley Vineyards shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.1% of Boston Beer shares are held by institutional investors. 9.1% of Willamette Valley Vineyards shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.4% of Boston Beer shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Willamette Valley Vineyards and Boston Beer’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Willamette Valley Vineyards	-5.93%	-10.31%	-2.11%
Boston Beer	-3.59%	10.40%	6.38%

Volatility and Risk

Willamette Valley Vineyards has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Boston Beer has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Willamette Valley Vineyards and Boston Beer”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Willamette Valley Vineyards	$37.20 million	0.23	-$920,000.00	($0.92)	-1.91
Boston Beer	$2.09 billion	1.08	$108.47 million	($6.83)	-32.37

Boston Beer has higher revenue and earnings than Willamette Valley Vineyards. Boston Beer is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Willamette Valley Vineyards, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Boston Beer beats Willamette Valley Vineyards on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Willamette Valley Vineyards

Willamette Valley Vineyards, Inc. produces and sells wine in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Direct Sales and Distributor Sales. It primarily offers Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Gruner Veltliner, Rose, Brut, Brut Rose, and Riesling branded wines under the Willamette Valley Vineyards label; Semi-Sparkling Muscat branded wine under the Tualatin Estate Vineyards label; Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, Malbec, The Griffin, and Viognier branded wines under the Griffin Creek label; and Brut, Brut Rose, and Blanc de Blancs under the Domaine Willamette label. The company also provides Pinot Noir and Chardonnay branded wine under the Elton label; Chrysologue, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon branded wine under the Pambrun label; and Frontiere Syrah, Lisette Rose, Graviére Syrah, Voyageur Syrah, Bourgeois Grenache, and Voltigeur Viognier branded wine under the Maison Bleue label, as well as offers wines under the Natoma, Pere Ami, and Metis labels. It owns and leases approximately 1,018 acres of land. The company markets and sells its wine products through direct sales at the retail locations; mailing lists; and distributors and wine brokers. Willamette Valley Vineyards, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Turner, Oregon.

About Boston Beer

The Boston Beer Company, Inc produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, and Coney Island brand names. The company markets and sells its products to a network wholesaler in the United States, as well as wholesalers, importers, or other agencies that in turn sell to retailers, such as grocery stores, club stores, convenience stores, liquor stores, bars, restaurants, stadiums, and other e-commerce retail outlets. It sells its products in Canada, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, Mexico, and Central and South America. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.