Davis Commodities (NASDAQ:DTCK) vs. Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Critical Analysis

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Dole and Davis Commodities”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dole	$9.17 billion	0.16	$51.32 million	$0.53	29.08
Davis Commodities	$132.37 million	0.02	-$3.53 million	N/A	N/A

Dole has higher revenue and earnings than Davis Commodities.

Volatility & Risk

Dole has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Davis Commodities has a beta of -0.03, indicating that its share price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Dole and Davis Commodities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dole	0.56%	7.81%	2.55%
Davis Commodities	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Dole and Davis Commodities, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dole	0	2	0	0	2.00
Davis Commodities	1	0	0	0	1.00

Dole currently has a consensus target price of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.83%. Given Dole’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Dole is more favorable than Davis Commodities.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.8% of Davis Commodities shares are held by institutional investors. 41.8% of Dole shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Dole beats Davis Commodities on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Davis Commodities

Davis Commodities Limited, an investment holding company, operates as an agricultural commodity trading company in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The company trades in agricultural commodities, including sugar, rice, and oil and fat products under the Maxwill and Taffy brands. It also provides warehouse storage and logistic, as well as agency services. Davis Commodities Limited was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Singapore. The company operates as a subsidiary of Davis & KT Holdings Pte. Ltd.