Above Food Ingredients (NASDAQ:ABVE) & SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) Critical Comparison

Above Food Ingredients (NASDAQ:ABVE) and SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Above Food Ingredients and SunOpta’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Above Food Ingredients	N/A	N/A	N/A
SunOpta	-0.66%	12.82%	2.90%

Volatility & Risk

Above Food Ingredients has a beta of -0.24, indicating that its stock price is 124% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SunOpta has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Above Food Ingredients and SunOpta”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Above Food Ingredients	$273.06 million	0.20	-$39.49 million	N/A	N/A
SunOpta	$723.73 million	1.03	-$17.39 million	($0.06)	-105.67

SunOpta has higher revenue and earnings than Above Food Ingredients.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

28.8% of Above Food Ingredients shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.4% of SunOpta shares are held by institutional investors. 64.5% of Above Food Ingredients shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of SunOpta shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Above Food Ingredients and SunOpta, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Above Food Ingredients	0	0	0	0	0.00
SunOpta	0	0	2	0	3.00

SunOpta has a consensus target price of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 49.84%. Given SunOpta’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SunOpta is more favorable than Above Food Ingredients.

Summary

SunOpta beats Above Food Ingredients on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Above Food Ingredients

Above Food Ingredients Inc., a regenerative ingredient company, produces vertically integrated supply chain products in Canada, the United States, Mexico, China, France, Turkey, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Disruptive Agriculture and Rudimentary Ingredients, and Consumer Packaged Goods. The Disruptive Agriculture and Rudimentary Ingredients segment engages in the provisioning of discrete genetics, origination, purchasing, grading, processing, and sale of regeneratively grown grain; and origination, purchase, and sale of bespoke ingredients products. The Consumer Packaged Goods segment formulates, manufactures, sells, distributes, and markets proprietary consumer product formulations in owned brands; and focuses on manufacturing and distribution for private-labeled retail owned brands. Above Food Ingredients Inc. is based in Regina, Canada.

About SunOpta

SunOpta Inc. engages in manufacture and sale of plant-based and fruit-based food and beverage products in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company provides plant-based beverages utilizing oat, almond, soy, coconut, rice, hemp, and other bases under the Dream and West Life brands; oat-based creamers under the SOWN brand; ready-to-drink protein shakes; and nut, grain, seed, and legume based beverages; packaged teas and concentrates; and meat and vegetable broths and stocks. It also offers plant-based ingredients, such as oatbase, oatgold, soybase, hempbase, and soypowders and okara; ready-to-eat fruit snacks made from apple purée and juice concentrate in bar, bit, twist, strip and sandwich formats; cold pressed fruit bars; liquid and powder ingredients utilizing oat, soy and hemp bases; ready-to-eat fruit smoothie and chia bowls topped with frozen fruit; consumer products, which includes protein shakes, teas, broths, and fruit snacks; and liquid and dry ingredients for internal use and for sale to other food and beverage manufacturers. It sells its products through various distribution channels including private label products to retail customers; branded products under co-manufacturing agreements to other branded food companies for their distribution; and its own branded products to retail and foodservice customers. The company was formerly known as Stake Technology Ltd. and changed its name to SunOpta Inc. in October 2003. SunOpta Inc. was incorporated in 1973 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.