Analyzing Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) and Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Seneca Foods and Freshpet, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seneca Foods	0	0	1	0	3.00
Freshpet	1	12	6	0	2.26

Freshpet has a consensus target price of $80.75, suggesting a potential upside of 27.65%. Given Freshpet’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Freshpet is more favorable than Seneca Foods.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seneca Foods	3.73%	9.68%	5.03%
Freshpet	11.44%	5.73%	3.83%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Seneca Foods and Freshpet”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seneca Foods	$1.58 billion	0.52	$41.22 million	$8.62	13.83
Freshpet	$975.18 million	3.17	$46.92 million	$2.29	27.62

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

42.5% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.4% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of Freshpet shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Seneca Foods has a beta of 0.13, indicating that its stock price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freshpet has a beta of 1.71, indicating that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

About Seneca Foods

Seneca Foods Corporation provides packaged fruits and vegetables in the United States and internationally. The company offers canned, frozen, and jarred produce; jarred fruit; 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, Cherryman, Green Valley, and READ. In addition, it packs canned and frozen vegetables under contract packing agreements. Further, the company engages in the sale of cans, ends, and seeds, 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; specialty retailers; and food service distributors, restaurant chains, industrial markets, other food packagers, and export customers in approximately 55 countries, as well as federal, state, and local governments for school and other feeding programs. Seneca Foods Corporation was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in Fairport, New York.

About Freshpet

Freshpet, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells dog food, cat food, and dog treats under the Freshpet brand name; and Dognation and Dog Joy labels through various classes of retail, including grocery, mass, club, pet specialty, and natural, as well as online. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey.