Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) vs. Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) Financial Survey

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) and Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Mission Produce and Fresh Del Monte Produce, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mission Produce	0	1	2	1	3.00
Fresh Del Monte Produce	0	0	1	0	3.00

Mission Produce presently has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 44.44%. Given Mission Produce’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Mission Produce is more favorable than Fresh Del Monte Produce.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mission Produce and Fresh Del Monte Produce”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mission Produce	$1.23 billion	0.67	$36.70 million	$0.54	21.80
Fresh Del Monte Produce	$4.28 billion	0.40	$142.20 million	$3.12	11.37

Fresh Del Monte Produce has higher revenue and earnings than Mission Produce. Fresh Del Monte Produce is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mission Produce, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

63.6% of Mission Produce shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.8% of Fresh Del Monte Produce shares are held by institutional investors. 35.4% of Mission Produce shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 30.1% of Fresh Del Monte Produce shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Mission Produce and Fresh Del Monte Produce’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mission Produce	2.73%	7.89%	4.65%
Fresh Del Monte Produce	3.49%	6.84%	4.41%

Risk & Volatility

Mission Produce has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fresh Del Monte Produce has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mission Produce beats Fresh Del Monte Produce on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc. engages in the sourcing, farming, packaging, marketing, and distribution of avocados, mangoes, and blueberries to food retailers, distributors, and foodservice customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments, Marketing and Distribution; International Farming; and Blueberries. It also provides ripening, bagging, custom packing, logistical management, and quality assurance services. In addition, the company offers merchandising and promotional support, and insights on market trends, and training services. Mission Produce, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Oxnard, California.

About Fresh Del Monte Produce

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fresh and Value-Added Products, Banana, and Other Products and Services. The company offers pineapples, fresh-cut fruit, fresh-cut vegetables, melons, and vegetables; non-tropical fruits, such as grapes, apples, citrus, blueberries, strawberries, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, and kiwis; other fruit and vegetables, and avocados; and prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, other beverages, and meals and snacks. It also engages in the sale of poultry and meat products; and third-party freight services business. The company offers its products under the Del Monte brand, as well as under other brands, such as UTC, Rosy, Just Juice, Fruitini, Pinkglow, Del Monte Zero, Honeyglow, Rubyglow, Honey Miniglow, Bananinis, Mann, Mann’s Logo, Arcadian Harvest, Nourish Bowls, Broccolini, Caulilini, Better Burger Leaf, Romaleaf, and other regional brands. It markets and distributes its products to retail stores, club stores, convenience stores, wholesalers, distributors, and foodservice operators. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. was founded in 1886 and is based in George Town, Cayman Islands.