Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) versus CHS (NASDAQ:CHSCP) Financial Survey

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) and CHS (NASDAQ:CHSCP) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Calavo Growers pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. CHS pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Calavo Growers pays out 90.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Calavo Growers has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.3% of Calavo Growers shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Calavo Growers shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of CHS shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Calavo Growers and CHS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Calavo Growers	2.28%	11.73%	7.86%
CHS	1.42%	6.03%	2.63%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Calavo Growers and CHS, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Calavo Growers	0	1	1	0	2.50
CHS	0	0	0	0	0.00

Calavo Growers currently has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 43.78%. Given Calavo Growers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Calavo Growers is more favorable than CHS.

Volatility and Risk

Calavo Growers has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CHS has a beta of 0.24, suggesting that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Calavo Growers and CHS”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Calavo Growers	$693.71 million	0.72	-$1.08 million	$0.88	31.61
CHS	$32.64 billion	N/A	$1.10 billion	N/A	N/A

CHS has higher revenue and earnings than Calavo Growers.

Summary

Calavo Growers beats CHS on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Calavo Growers

Calavo Growers, Inc. markets and distributes avocados, prepared avocados, and other perishable foods to retail grocery and foodservice customers, club stores, mass merchandisers, food distributors, and wholesale customers worldwide. It operates through Grown and Prepared segments. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. The Prepared segment is involved in the distribution of prepared avocado products, salsa, fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, fresh prepared entrees salads, wraps, sandwiches, parfaits, and fresh snacking products, as well as ready-to-heat entrees, other hot bars and various deli items, meals kit components, and salad kits. It offers its products under the Calavo brands and related logos; and Avo Fresco, Bueno, Avo Fresco, Bueno, Calavo Gold, Celebrate the Taste, El Dorado, Taste of Paradise, The First Name in Avocados, The Family of Fresh, ProRipeVIP, RIPE NOW!, Renaissance Food Group, Garden Highway Fresh Cut, Garden Highway, and Garden Highway Chef Essentials trademarks. Calavo Growers, Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Santa Paula, California.

About CHS

CHS Inc., an integrated agricultural company, engages in the provision of grains, food, and energy resources to businesses and consumers worldwide. It is involved in the operation of petroleum refineries and pipelines; the supply, marketing, and distribution of refined fuels; the blending, sale, and distribution of lubricants; and the supply of propane, asphalt, and other natural gas liquids. The company also processes and sells crude oil into refined petroleum products under the Cenex brand name to member cooperatives and other independent retailers through a network of approximately 1,500 sites and provides transportation services. In addition, it processes and markets grains and oilseeds and offers seeds, crop nutrients, crop protection products, animal feed, animal health products, refined and renewable fuels, as well as refined oils, meal, soy flour, and processed sunflower products. Additionally, it produces and distributes edible oil-based products. CHS Inc. was formerly known as Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives and changed its name to CHS Inc. in August 2003. The company was incorporated in 1936 and is based in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.