Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) vs. Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Financial Contrast

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mission Produce and Dole”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mission Produce	$1.39 billion	0.75	$37.70 million	$0.46	32.20
Dole	$9.17 billion	0.16	$51.32 million	$0.53	29.59

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Mission Produce and Dole, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mission Produce	0	2	3	1	2.83
Dole	0	3	0	0	2.00

Mission Produce presently has a consensus target price of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.79%. Dole has a consensus target price of $15.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.18%. Given Mission Produce’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Mission Produce is more favorable than Dole.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mission Produce	2.48%	8.24%	5.00%
Dole	0.56%	7.81%	2.55%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

63.6% of Mission Produce shares are owned by institutional investors. 30.9% of Mission Produce shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 41.8% of Dole shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Mission Produce has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dole has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mission Produce beats Dole on 10 of the 15 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 Dole

Dole Food Company, Inc. (Dole) is a producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. The Company is a producer of bananas and pineapples, and packaged fruit products, packaged salads and fresh-packed vegetables. The Company has three business segments: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged foods. The fresh fruit segment contains operating divisions that produce and market fresh fruit to wholesale, retail and institutional customers worldwide. The fresh vegetables segment produces and markets fresh-packed and value-added vegetables and salads to wholesale, retail and institutional customers, primarily in North America and Europe. The packaged foods segment contains several operating divisions that produce and market packaged foods, including fruit, juices, frozen fruit and healthy snack foods. In November 2013, Dole Food Company, Inc announced that an investor group acquired the remaining 60.43% interest in the Company.