Local Bounti (NYSE:LOCL) & Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Head-To-Head Comparison

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) and Local Bounti (NYSE:LOCL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Scotts Miracle-Gro and Local Bounti”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scotts Miracle-Gro	$3.41 billion	0.96	-$34.90 million	$2.42	23.40
Local Bounti	$38.14 million	1.43	-$119.90 million	($11.34)	-0.22

Scotts Miracle-Gro has higher revenue and earnings than Local Bounti. Local Bounti is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Scotts Miracle-Gro, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Scotts Miracle-Gro and Local Bounti’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scotts Miracle-Gro	1.54%	-60.46%	6.35%
Local Bounti	-265.21%	N/A	-28.36%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Scotts Miracle-Gro and Local Bounti, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scotts Miracle-Gro	0	3	5	0	2.63
Local Bounti	1	0	0	0	1.00

Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus target price of $69.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.75%. Given Scotts Miracle-Gro’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Scotts Miracle-Gro is more favorable than Local Bounti.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.1% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.0% of Local Bounti shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.4% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of Local Bounti shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Scotts Miracle-Gro has a beta of 1.98, indicating that its stock price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Local Bounti has a beta of 2.09, indicating that its stock price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Scotts Miracle-Gro beats Local Bounti on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, and other durable products, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; and gardening and landscape products, which include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes, garden soils, mulches and ground cover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions. It offers hydroponic products that help users to grow plants, flowers, and vegetables using little or no soil; lighting systems and components for use in hydroponic and indoor gardening applications; insect, rodent, and weed control products for home areas; and non-selective weed killer products. The company sells its products under the Scotts, Turf Builder, EZ Seed, PatchMaster, Thick'R Lawn, GrubEx, EdgeGuard, Handy Green II, Miracle-Gro, LiquaFeed, Shake N Feed, Hyponex, Earthgro, Nature Scapes, Ortho, Miracle-Gro Performance Organics, Miracle-Gro Organic Choice, Whitney Farms, EcoScraps, Mother Earth, Botanicare, General Hydroponics, Cyco, Gavita, Agrolux, HydroLogic Purification System, Gro Pro, AeroGarden, Titan, Tomcat, Ortho Weed B Gon, Roundup, Groundclear, and Alchemist brands. It serves home centers, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, large hardware chains, independent hardware stores, nurseries, garden centers, e-commerce platforms, and food and drug stores, as well as indoor gardening and hydroponic distributors, retailers, and growers. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Marysville, Ohio.

About Local Bounti

Local Bounti Corporation grows and packs fresh greens in the United States. It produces lettuce, herbs, and loose-leaf lettuce. The company sells its products to food retailers and food service distributors. Local Bounti Corporation was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Montana.