Head-To-Head Survey: BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) versus Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI)

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) and BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) are both mid-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Marzetti and BellRing Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marzetti	0	3	1	0	2.25
BellRing Brands	2	5	12	0	2.53

Marzetti currently has a consensus target price of $188.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.08%. BellRing Brands has a consensus target price of $38.50, indicating a potential upside of 126.47%. Given BellRing Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe BellRing Brands is more favorable than Marzetti.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Marzetti and BellRing Brands”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marzetti	$1.91 billion	2.37	$167.35 million	$6.53	25.24
BellRing Brands	$2.32 billion	0.86	$216.20 million	$1.45	11.72

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

Profitability

This table compares Marzetti and BellRing Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marzetti	9.25%	18.55%	14.39%
BellRing Brands	7.88%	-64.79%	25.12%

Volatility & Risk

Marzetti has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BellRing Brands has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.4% of Marzetti shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.0% of BellRing Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 29.1% of Marzetti shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of BellRing Brands shares are held 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.

Summary

BellRing Brands beats Marzetti on 8 of the 14 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 BellRing Brands

BellRing Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides various nutrition products in the United States. The company offers ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands. It distributes its products through club, food, drug, mass, eCommerce, specialty, and convenience channels. BellRing Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.