Head to Head Comparison: SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) and Nocera (NASDAQ:NCRA)

Nocera (NASDAQ:NCRA) and SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nocera and SunOpta”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nocera	$17.01 million	0.20	-$2.35 million	($0.24)	-1.00
SunOpta	$817.72 million	0.94	$15.77 million	N/A	N/A

SunOpta has higher revenue and earnings than Nocera.

Profitability

This table compares Nocera and SunOpta’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nocera	-24.59%	-81.74%	-69.13%
SunOpta	1.93%	13.31%	3.10%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Nocera and SunOpta, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nocera	1	0	0	0	1.00
SunOpta	1	2	2	0	2.20

SunOpta has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.08%. Given SunOpta’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SunOpta is more favorable than Nocera.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.3% of Nocera shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.4% of SunOpta shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Nocera shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of SunOpta shares are owned 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.

Risk and Volatility

Nocera has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SunOpta has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

SunOpta beats Nocera on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nocera

Nocera, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and produces recirculating aquaculture systems for fish farms in Taiwan. The company also offers consulting, technology transfer, and aquaculture project management services to new and existing aquaculture management business services. In addition, the company sells signature seafood porridge bowl through its flagship bento box store. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

About SunOpta

SunOpta Inc. engages in manufacture and sale of plant-based and fruit-based food and beverage products in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company provides plant-based beverages utilizing oat, almond, soy, coconut, rice, hemp, and other bases under the Dream and West Life brands; oat-based creamers under the SOWN brand; ready-to-drink protein shakes; and nut, grain, seed, and legume based beverages; packaged teas and concentrates; and meat and vegetable broths and stocks. It also offers plant-based ingredients, such as oatbase, oatgold, soybase, hempbase, and soypowders and okara; ready-to-eat fruit snacks made from apple purée and juice concentrate in bar, bit, twist, strip and sandwich formats; cold pressed fruit bars; liquid and powder ingredients utilizing oat, soy and hemp bases; ready-to-eat fruit smoothie and chia bowls topped with frozen fruit; consumer products, which includes protein shakes, teas, broths, and fruit snacks; and liquid and dry ingredients for internal use and for sale to other food and beverage manufacturers. It sells its products through various distribution channels including private label products to retail customers; branded products under co-manufacturing agreements to other branded food companies for their distribution; and its own branded products to retail and foodservice customers. The company was formerly known as Stake Technology Ltd. and changed its name to SunOpta Inc. in October 2003. SunOpta Inc. was incorporated in 1973 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.