Financial Analysis: SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) vs. Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD)

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

Risk and Volatility

SunOpta has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nomad Foods has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

85.4% of SunOpta shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.3% of Nomad Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of SunOpta shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.3% of Nomad Foods shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SunOpta	1.93%	13.31%	3.10%
Nomad Foods	4.50%	9.83%	3.95%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for SunOpta and Nomad Foods, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SunOpta	1	2	2	0	2.20
Nomad Foods	2	0	3	0	2.20

SunOpta presently has a consensus price target of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.08%. Nomad Foods has a consensus price target of $13.67, suggesting a potential upside of 40.06%. Given Nomad Foods’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nomad Foods is more favorable than SunOpta.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SunOpta	$817.72 million	0.94	$15.77 million	N/A	N/A
Nomad Foods	$3.03 billion	0.46	$154.66 million	$1.02	9.57

Nomad Foods has higher revenue and earnings than SunOpta.

Summary

Nomad Foods beats SunOpta on 7 of the 12 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 Nomad Foods

Nomad Foods Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of frozen food products in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company offers frozen fish products, including fish fingers, coated fish, and natural fish; ready-to-cook vegetable products, such as peas and spinach; and frozen poultry and meat products comprising nuggets, grills, and burgers. It also provides meal products that include ready-to-cook noodles, pasta, lasagna, pancakes, and other ready-made meals; ice creams, such as in-home and out-of-home ice creams; and other products consisting of soups, pizzas, bakery goods, and meat substitutes. The company sells its products to supermarkets and food retail chains primarily under the Birds Eye, Green Cuisine, iglo, Findus, Aunt Bessie's, Goodfella's, Frikom, Ledo, La Cocinera, and Belviva brand names. Nomad Foods Limited was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Feltham, the United Kingdom.