Mama’s Creations (NASDAQ:MAMA) versus SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) Critical Survey

Mama’s Creations (NASDAQ:MAMA) and SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Mama’s Creations and SunOpta’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mama’s Creations	3.34%	17.41%	9.10%
SunOpta	-0.66%	12.82%	2.90%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

45.2% of Mama’s Creations shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.4% of SunOpta shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Mama’s Creations shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of SunOpta shares are owned by company 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 recommmendations for Mama’s Creations and SunOpta, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mama’s Creations	0	1	3	0	2.75
SunOpta	0	0	2	0	3.00

Mama’s Creations presently has a consensus price target of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.50%. SunOpta has a consensus price target of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 52.49%. Given SunOpta’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SunOpta is more favorable than Mama’s Creations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mama’s Creations and SunOpta”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mama’s Creations	$123.33 million	3.51	$3.71 million	$0.11	97.27
SunOpta	$723.73 million	1.02	-$17.39 million	($0.06)	-103.83

Mama’s Creations has higher earnings, but lower revenue than SunOpta. SunOpta is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mama’s Creations, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Mama’s Creations has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SunOpta has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mama’s Creations beats SunOpta on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mama’s Creations

Mama’s Creations, Inc. engages in the marketing, manufacturing, and distribution of beef meatballs with sauce, turkey meatballs with sauce, beef meat loaf, sausage and peppers, chicken parmesan, and other similar meats and sauces. Its products include beef meatballs, turkey meatballs, stuffed meatballs, lasagna roll ups, retail ready meals, bulk deli, single-size pasta bowls, and packaged refrigerated products. Its brands include MamaMancini’s, Creative Salads, and The Olive Branch. The company was founded by Daniel Dougherty on July 22, 2009 and is headquartered in East Rutherford, NJ.

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.