Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) and Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) Financial Review

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) and Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Leslie’s and Village Farms International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Leslie’s	3	5	0	0	1.63
Village Farms International	0	2	2	0	2.50

Leslie’s presently has a consensus target price of $6.55, indicating a potential upside of 523.81%. Given Leslie’s’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Leslie’s is more favorable than Village Farms International.

Profitability

This table compares Leslie’s and Village Farms International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Leslie’s	-22.69%	N/A	-7.11%
Village Farms International	7.47%	1.98%	1.35%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Leslie’s and Village Farms International”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Leslie’s	$1.24 billion	0.01	-$236.97 million	($29.66)	-0.04
Village Farms International	$336.18 million	1.25	-$35.85 million	$0.18	20.17

Village Farms International has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Leslie’s. Leslie’s is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Village Farms International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Leslie’s has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Village Farms International has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.2% of Village Farms International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Leslie’s shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.6% of Village Farms International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Village Farms International beats Leslie’s on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Leslie’s

Leslie’s, Inc. operates as a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand in the United States. The company markets and sells pool and spa supplies and related products and services. It also offers various pool and spa maintenance items, such as chemicals, equipment and parts, cleaning and maintenance equipment, safety, recreational, and fitness related products. In addition, the company provides installation and repair services for pool and spa equipment. It also sells its products through e-commerce websites and third-party marketplaces. The company offers complimentary, commercial-grade in-store, water testing, and analysis services. It serves the residential, professional, and commercial consumers. Leslie’s, Inc. was founded in 1963 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

About Village Farms International

Village Farms International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and sells greenhouse-grown tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers in North America. It operates through four segments: Produce, Cannabis-Canada, Cannabis-U.S., and Energy. The company also produces and supplies cannabis products to other licensed providers and provincial governments in Canada and internationally; develops and sells cannabinoid-based health and wellness products, including ingestible, edibles, and topical applications; and produces power. It markets and distributes its products under the Village Farms brand name to retail supermarkets and fresh food distribution companies, as well as products produced under exclusive and non-exclusive arrangements from greenhouse supply partners. The company was formerly known as Village Farms Canada Inc. and changed its name to Village Farms International, Inc. in December 2009. Village Farms International, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Delta, Canada.