Contrasting Greenlane (NASDAQ:GNLN) and Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI)

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) and Greenlane (NASDAQ:GNLN) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Marzetti and Greenlane, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marzetti	0	3	1	0	2.25
Greenlane	1	0	0	0	1.00

Marzetti presently has a consensus target price of $188.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.42%. Given Marzetti’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Marzetti is more favorable than Greenlane.

Profitability

This table compares Marzetti and Greenlane’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marzetti	9.25%	18.55%	14.39%
Greenlane	-532.82%	-164.19%	-85.38%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Marzetti and Greenlane”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marzetti	$1.91 billion	2.38	$167.35 million	$6.53	25.38
Greenlane	$13.27 million	0.40	-$17.64 million	($255.77)	0.00

Marzetti has higher revenue and earnings than Greenlane. Greenlane is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marzetti, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Marzetti has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greenlane has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

66.4% of Marzetti shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.0% of Greenlane shares are held by institutional investors. 29.1% of Marzetti shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Greenlane shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Marzetti beats Greenlane on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marzetti

Lancaster Colony Corporation engages in the manufacturing and marketing of specialty food products for the retail and foodservice channels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Retail and Foodservice. The company offers frozen garlic bread under the New York BRAND Bakery; frozen Parkerhouse style yeast and dinner rolls under the Sister Schubert's brand; salad dressings under the Marzetti, Simply Dressed, Cardini's, and Girard's brands; vegetable and fruit dips under the Marzetti brand; croutons and salad toppings under the New York BRAND Bakery, Chatham Village, and Marzetti brands; and frozen pasta under the Marzetti Frozen Pasta brand. It also manufactures and sells other products to brand license agreements, including Olive Garden dressings, Buffalo Wild Wings sauces, and Chick-fil-A sauces. The company sells its products through sales personnel, food brokers, and distributors to retailers and restaurants. Lancaster Colony Corporation was incorporated in 1961 and is based in Westerville, Ohio.

About Greenlane

Greenlane Holdings, Inc. develops and distributes cannabis accessories, vape solutions, and lifestyle products in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It operates in two segments, Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods. The company provides consumption accessories, vaporizers, pipes, rolling papers, grinders, and apparel lines, as well as bubblers, rigs, other smoking and vaporization related accessories, and merchandise. It offers its products under the Groove, Eyce, DaVinci, Higher Standards, Pollen Gear, Marley Natural, and Keith Haring brands. The company also operates e-commerce websites, such as Vapor.com, Vaposhop.com, DaVinciVaporizer.com, PuffItUp.com, HigherStandards.com, EyceMolds.com, and MarleyNaturalShop.com. It serves customers through smoke shops, cannabis dispensaries, and specialty retailers. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.