Associated British Foods (OTCMKTS:ASBFY) & Ajinomoto (OTCMKTS:AJINY) Head-To-Head Review

Associated British Foods (OTCMKTS:ASBFY) and Ajinomoto (OTCMKTS:AJINY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Associated British Foods and Ajinomoto”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Associated British Foods	$26.11 billion	0.87	$1.85 billion	N/A	N/A
Ajinomoto	$10.05 billion	2.73	$463.80 million	$0.60	45.95

Associated British Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Ajinomoto.

Volatility & Risk

Associated British Foods has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ajinomoto has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Associated British Foods pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Ajinomoto pays an annual dividend of $0.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Ajinomoto pays out 31.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Associated British Foods and Ajinomoto, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Associated British Foods	1	1	0	0	1.50
Ajinomoto	0	1	0	2	3.33

Profitability

This table compares Associated British Foods and Ajinomoto’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Associated British Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ajinomoto	6.02%	10.45%	5.06%

Summary

Ajinomoto beats Associated British Foods on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Associated British Foods

Associated British Foods plc operates as a diversified food, ingredients, and retail company worldwide. It operates through five segments: Grocery, Ingredients, Agriculture, Sugar, and Retail. The Grocery segment manufactures and sells grocery products, including hot beverages, sugar and sweeteners, vegetable oils, balsamic vinegars, bread and baked goods, cereals, ethnic foods, and meat products to retail, wholesale, and foodservice businesses. The Ingredients segment manufactures bakers' yeast, bakery ingredients, enzymes, lipids, yeast extracts, and cereal specialties. The Agriculture segment manufactures and sells animal feeds; and provides other products and services for the agriculture sector. The Sugar segment is involved in growing, processing, and selling sugar beet and sugar cane to industrial users. The Retail segment is involved in buying and merchandising clothing and accessories through the Primark and Penneys retail chains, which offer women's, men's, and kids wear, as well as beauty, homeware, and accessories. The company was incorporated in 1934 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Associated British Foods plc operates as a subsidiary of Wittington Investments Limited.

About Ajinomoto

Ajinomoto Co., Inc. engages in the seasonings and foods, frozen foods, and healthcare and other businesses in Japan and internationally. The Seasonings and Foods segment offers sauces and seasoning products under the AJI-NO-MOTO, HON-DASHI, Cook Do, Ajinomoto KK Consommé, Pure Select Mayonnaise, Ros Dee, Masako, Aji-ngon, Sazón, Sajiku, and CRISPY FRY names; and solutions and ingredients for foodservice and processed food manufacturers, processed foods, and restaurants, as well as industrial, retail, and other applications. This segment also provides instant noodles under the Knorr Cup Soup and YumYum names; coffee beverages under the Birdy and Blendy brands; powdered drink under the Birdy 3in1 name; MAXIM brand products; Chyotto Zeitakuna Kohiten brand products; and gift sets and office supplies comprising coffee vending machines, tea servers, etc. The Frozen Foods segment offers Chinese dumplings, cooked rice, noodles, desserts, shumai, processed chicken, and other products under the AJINOMOTO FRESH FROZEN, Bernardi, FRED’S, Golden Tiger, José Olé, LingLing, POSADA, and TAI PEI brands. The Healthcare and Other segment provides amino acids for applications in various industries, such as pharmaceuticals and foods; contract development and manufacturing services for pharmaceutical intermediates and active ingredients, aseptic fill finish services, etc.; personal care ingredients; and medical foods, crop services, etc. This segment also offers Ajinomoto Build-up Film, an interlayer insulating material for semiconductor packages; fundamental foods under the Glyna and Amino Aile names; sports nutrition supplements under the amino VITAL brand; and functional materials, such as activated carbon, release paper, etc. Ajinomoto Co., Inc. was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.