Critical Contrast: Above Food Ingredients (NASDAQ:ABVE) and Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

28.8% of Above Food Ingredients shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.4% of Marzetti shares are held by institutional investors. 64.5% of Above Food Ingredients shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.1% of Marzetti shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Above Food Ingredients and Marzetti’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Above Food Ingredients	N/A	N/A	N/A
Marzetti	9.25%	18.55%	14.39%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Above Food Ingredients and Marzetti”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Above Food Ingredients	$273.06 million	0.16	-$39.49 million	N/A	N/A
Marzetti	$1.91 billion	2.35	$167.35 million	$6.53	25.07

Marzetti has higher revenue and earnings than Above Food Ingredients.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Above Food Ingredients and Marzetti, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Above Food Ingredients	0	0	0	0	0.00
Marzetti	0	3	1	0	2.25

Marzetti has a consensus price target of $188.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.84%. Given Marzetti’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Marzetti is more favorable than Above Food Ingredients.

Volatility and Risk

Above Food Ingredients has a beta of -0.07, meaning that its share price is 107% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marzetti has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Marzetti beats Above Food Ingredients on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Above Food Ingredients

Above Food Ingredients Inc., a regenerative ingredient company, produces vertically integrated supply chain products in Canada, the United States, Mexico, China, France, Turkey, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Disruptive Agriculture and Rudimentary Ingredients, and Consumer Packaged Goods. The Disruptive Agriculture and Rudimentary Ingredients segment engages in the provisioning of discrete genetics, origination, purchasing, grading, processing, and sale of regeneratively grown grain; and origination, purchase, and sale of bespoke ingredients products. The Consumer Packaged Goods segment formulates, manufactures, sells, distributes, and markets proprietary consumer product formulations in owned brands; and focuses on manufacturing and distribution for private-labeled retail owned brands. Above Food Ingredients Inc. is based in Regina, Canada.

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.