Analyzing Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) and BAB (OTCMKTS:BABB)

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) and BAB (OTCMKTS:BABB) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

42.5% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.4% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 33.7% of BAB shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Seneca Foods and BAB, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seneca Foods	0	0	1	0	3.00
BAB	0	0	0	0	0.00

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seneca Foods	$1.58 billion	0.57	$41.22 million	$13.00	10.26
BAB	$3.44 million	1.91	$560,000.00	$0.08	11.31

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

Profitability

This table compares Seneca Foods and BAB’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seneca Foods	5.58%	12.30%	6.65%
BAB	16.50%	16.48%	11.69%

Volatility & Risk

Seneca Foods has a beta of 0.03, indicating that its stock price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BAB has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BAB beats Seneca Foods on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seneca Foods

Seneca Foods Corporation provides packaged fruits and vegetables in the United States and internationally. The company offers canned, frozen, and jarred produce; jarred fruit; and snack chips and other food products under the private label, as well as under various national and regional brands that the company owns or licenses, including Seneca, Libby’s, Aunt Nellie’s, Cherryman, Green Valley, and READ. In addition, it packs canned and frozen vegetables under contract packing agreements. Further, the company engages in the sale of cans, ends, and seeds, as well as trucking and aircraft operations. It provides its products to grocery outlets, including supermarkets, mass merchandisers, limited assortment stores, club stores, and dollar stores; specialty retailers; and food service distributors, restaurant chains, industrial markets, other food packagers, and export customers in approximately 55 countries, as well as federal, state, and local governments for school and other feeding programs. Seneca Foods Corporation was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in Fairport, New York.

About BAB

BAB, Inc. franchises and licenses bagel and muffin retail units under the Big Apple Bagels (BAB), My Favorite Muffin (MFM), and SweetDuet (SD) trade names in the United States. It's BAB franchised brand includes daily baked bagels, flavored cream cheeses, premium coffees, gourmet bagel sandwiches, and other related products; and MFM brand comprises various freshly baked muffins and coffees, as well as units operating as My Favorite Muffin Your All Day Bakery Café features specialty bagel sandwiches and related products. The company's SD brand includes frozen yogurt products. BAB, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is based in Deerfield, Illinois.