Head-To-Head Survey: Post (NYSE:POST) & Danone (OTCMKTS:DANOY)

Danone (OTCMKTS:DANOY) and Post (NYSE:POST) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Danone and Post, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Danone	2	2	2	1	2.29
Post	0	4	4	0	2.50

Post has a consensus target price of $114.17, suggesting a potential upside of 17.11%. Given Post’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Post is more favorable than Danone.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Danone and Post”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Danone	$30.86 billion	1.80	$2.06 billion	N/A	N/A
Post	$8.45 billion	0.52	$335.70 million	$5.94	16.41

Danone has higher revenue and earnings than Post.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.1% of Danone shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Post shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Danone shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of Post shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Danone and Post’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Danone	N/A	N/A	N/A
Post	4.01%	13.36%	3.65%

Risk and Volatility

Danone has a beta of 0.18, suggesting that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Post has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Post beats Danone on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Danone

Danone S.A. operates in the food and beverage industry in Europe, Ukraine, North America, China, North Asia, the Oceania, Latin America, rest of Asia, Africa, Turkey, the Middle East, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The company operates through Essential Dairy & Plant-Based, Specialized Nutrition, and Waters segments. It produces and distributes yogurts, dairy products, coffee creamers and drinks, beverages, plant-based products, ice creams, frozen desserts, and cheese products under the Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette, Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, Danone, Light & Fit, Oikos, YoPRO, International Delight, SToK, Silk, Follow Your Heart, and So Delicious. The company also provides specialized nutrition, including formulas and complementary feeding for babies and young children; and special medical purposes food for children and adults under the Aptamil, Nutrilon, Gallia, Cow & Gate, Bebelac, and Blédina brands. In addition, it offers tube feeding products under the Nutrison name; and oral nutritional supplements under the Fortimel and NutriDrink names. Further, the company provides mineral waters from natural sources, waters infused with natural fruit extracts, fruit juices, and vitamins under the evian, Volvic, AQUA, Mizone, Bonafont, Salus, Hayat, Sirma, Font Vella, Lanjarón, and Zywiec Zdroj brands. It distributes its products through retail chains and traditional market outlets; convenience stores; hotels, restaurants, and coffee outlets; hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies; and e-commerce channels. The company was formerly known as Groupe Danone and changed its name to Danone S.A. in April 2009. Danone S.A. was incorporated in 1899 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

About Post

Post Holdings, Inc. operates as a consumer packaged goods holding company in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Post Consumer Brands, Weetabix, Foodservice, and Refrigerated Retail. The Post Consumer Brands segment manufactures, markets, and sells branded and private label ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals under Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, and Malt-O-Meal brand names; hot cereal; peanut butter under the Peter Pan brand; and branded and private label dog and cat food products under Rachael Ray Nutrish, Nature's Recipe, 9Lives, Kibbles 'n Bits and Gravy Train brand names. The Weetabix segment primarily manufactures, markets, and distributes branded and private label RTE cereal under Weetabix and Alpen brands; hot cereals and other cereal-based food products; breakfast drinks; protein-based shakes under the UFIT brand, and nutritional snacks, such as muesli. The Foodservice segment produces and distributes egg products primarily under Papetti's and Abbotsford Farms brands, as well as potato products in the foodservice and food ingredient channels. The segment also manufactures certain meat products. The Refrigerated Retail segment produces and distributes side dish, potato, sausage products under Bob Evans, Bob Evans Farms, and Simply Potatoes brands; eggs and egg products under Bob Evans Egg Whites and Egg Beaters brands; and cheese, and other dairy and refrigerated products under Crystal Farms brand. It serves grocery stores, mass merchandise customers, supercenters, club stores, natural/specialty stores, dollar stores, discounters, wholesalers, convenience stores, pet supply retailers, drug store customers, foodservice distributors, and national restaurant chains, as well as sells its products in the military, ecommerce, and foodservice channels. The company was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.