Head-To-Head Review: SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) & TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS)

SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) and TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares SunOpta and TreeHouse Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SunOpta	0.16%	14.91%	3.38%
TreeHouse Foods	-7.25%	5.52%	2.06%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.4% of SunOpta shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of TreeHouse Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of SunOpta shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of TreeHouse Foods 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 Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for SunOpta and TreeHouse Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SunOpta	1	2	2	0	2.20
TreeHouse Foods	1	8	0	0	1.89

SunOpta presently has a consensus target price of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 24.42%. TreeHouse Foods has a consensus target price of $24.67, indicating a potential upside of 0.87%. Given SunOpta’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe SunOpta is more favorable than TreeHouse Foods.

Volatility & Risk

SunOpta has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TreeHouse Foods has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SunOpta and TreeHouse Foods”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SunOpta	$723.73 million	1.07	-$17.39 million	N/A	N/A
TreeHouse Foods	$3.34 billion	0.37	$26.90 million	($4.80)	-5.09

TreeHouse Foods has higher revenue and earnings than SunOpta.

Summary

SunOpta beats TreeHouse Foods on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About TreeHouse Foods

TreeHouse Foods, Inc. manufactures and distributes private brands snacks and beverages in the United States and internationally. The company provides snacking products, such as crackers, pretzels, in-store bakery items, frozen griddle items, cookies, and candies; and beverage and drink mixes, including non-dairy creamer, coffee, broths/stocks, powdered beverages and other blends, tea, and ready-to-drink-beverages. It also offers groceries comprising pickles, refrigerated dough, hot cereal, and cheese and puddings, as well as natural, organic, and gluten-free products. The company sells its products through various distribution channels, including retailers, foodservice distributors, food-away-from-home customers, refrigerated and frozen formats, and co-manufacturers, as well as industrial and export, which includes food manufacturers and repackagers of foodservice products. TreeHouse Foods, Inc. was founded in 1862 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.