Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM – Get Free Report) and Hydrofarm Holdings Group (NASDAQ:HYFM – Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
84.7% of Cal-Maine Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Hydrofarm Holdings Group shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Cal-Maine Foods shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.9% of Hydrofarm Holdings Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Cal-Maine Foods and Hydrofarm Holdings Group, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Cal-Maine Foods | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Hydrofarm Holdings Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Profitability
This table compares Cal-Maine Foods and Hydrofarm Holdings Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Cal-Maine Foods | 28.63% | 54.81% | 44.18% |
| Hydrofarm Holdings Group | -38.43% | -28.08% | -14.63% |
Volatility & Risk
Cal-Maine Foods has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hydrofarm Holdings Group has a beta of 2.4, meaning that its stock price is 140% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Cal-Maine Foods and Hydrofarm Holdings Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Cal-Maine Foods | $4.26 billion | 1.31 | $1.22 billion | $24.95 | 4.56 |
| Hydrofarm Holdings Group | $190.29 million | 0.08 | -$66.72 million | ($13.45) | -0.25 |
Cal-Maine Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Hydrofarm Holdings Group. Hydrofarm Holdings Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cal-Maine Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Cal-Maine Foods beats Hydrofarm Holdings Group on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Cal-Maine Foods
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces, grades, packages, markets, and distributes shell eggs. The company offers specialty shell eggs, such as nutritionally enhanced, cage free, organic, free-range, pasture-raised, and brown eggs under the Egg-Land's Best, Land O' Lakes, Farmhouse Eggs, Sunups, Sunny Meadow, and 4Grain brand names. It sells its products to various customers, including national and regional grocery store chains, club stores, independent supermarkets, foodservice distributors, and egg product consumers primarily in the southwestern, southeastern, mid-western, and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
About Hydrofarm Holdings Group
Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes controlled environment agriculture (CEA) equipment and supplies in the United States and Canada. The company provides agricultural lighting devices, indoor climate control equipment, and nutrients, as well as plant additives used to grow, farm, and cultivate cannabis, flowers, fruits, plants, vegetables, grains, and herbs in controlled environment. It is also involved in the distribution of CEA equipment and supplies comprising nutrients and fertilizers; grow light systems; horticulture benches and racking systems; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems; humidity and carbon dioxide monitors and controllers; water pumps, heaters, chillers, and filters; and various growing media typically made from soil, peat, rock wool or coconut fiber, and others. The company offers its products to specialty hydroponic retailers, commercial resellers and greenhouse builders, garden centers, hardware stores, and e-commerce retailers under the Active Air, Active Aqua, Aurora Peat Products, HEAVY 16, House & Garden, Gaia Green, Grotek, Innovative Growers Equipment, Mad Farmer, Phantom, PHOTOBIO, Procision, Roots Organics, Soul, and SunBlaster brands. It serves its products through a range of commercial and home gardening equipment and supplies retailers. Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. was founded in 1977 and is based in Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania.
Receive News & Ratings for Cal-Maine Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cal-Maine Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
