Head to Head Survey: Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) versus School Specialty (OTCMKTS:SCOO)

School Specialty (OTCMKTS:SCOO) and Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares School Specialty and Alto Ingredients’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
School Specialty	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alto Ingredients	-7.16%	-18.78%	-10.60%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

42.4% of Alto Ingredients shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.0% of School Specialty shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Alto Ingredients shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for School Specialty and Alto Ingredients, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
School Specialty	0	0	0	0	0.00
Alto Ingredients	1	0	1	0	2.00

Alto Ingredients has a consensus price target of $5.50, suggesting a potential upside of 418.87%. Given Alto Ingredients’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Alto Ingredients is more favorable than School Specialty.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares School Specialty and Alto Ingredients”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
School Specialty	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alto Ingredients	$933.14 million	0.09	-$58.98 million	($0.92)	-1.15

School Specialty has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Alto Ingredients.

Summary

Alto Ingredients beats School Specialty on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About School Specialty

School Specialty, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides supplies, furniture, technology products, and curriculum solutions to the education marketplace in the United States and Canada. The company’s Distribution segment offers office products, classroom supplies, janitorial and sanitation supplies, school equipment, school and student safety and security products and services, physical education products, art supplies and paper, and others; physical education programs, solutions, resources, and equipment to improve student and staff wellness; and science education products, supplemental curriculum, and lab equipment and supplies. It also provides supplemental learning materials, teaching resources, classroom libraries, and manipulatives; intervention products; educator-inspired quality audio technology products, including multi-media, audio visual, and presentation equipment for the PreK-12 education market; and school-specific furniture and equipment for in-school, in-classroom, and outdoor use, as well as project management and design services for school refurbishment and new construction projects. This segment offers its products under the Childcraft, Sax Arts & Crafts, Califone, Classroom Select, Sportime, Abilitations, Hammond & Stephens, Brodhead Garrett, School Smart, Royal Seating, Projects by Design, CPO Science, Frey Scientific, Educator’s Publishing Service, Wordly Wise 3000, Explode the Code, ThinkMath!, SSI Guardian, Making Connections, S.P.I.R.E, Buckle Down, and Coach brands. Its Curriculum segment develops and sells standards-based curriculum science products, such as laboratory supplies and equipment, and furniture under the FOSS, Frey Scientific, Delta Science Module, Delta Education, CPO Science, and Neo/SCI brand names. The company offers its products through its sales force, catalogs, and its proprietary e-commerce Websites. School Specialty, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Greenville, Wisconsin.

About Alto Ingredients

Alto Ingredients, Inc. produces, distributes, and markets specialty alcohols, renewable fuel, and essential ingredients in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Marketing and Distribution, Pekin Campus Production, and Western Production. It offers specialty alcohols used in mouthwash, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hand sanitizers, disinfectants, and cleaners for health, home, and beauty markets; grain neutral spirits used in alcoholic beverages and vinegar, as well as corn germ used in corn oils in the food and beverage markets; alcohols and other products for paint applications and fertilizers in the industrial and agriculture markets; and essential ingredients include dried yeast, corn protein meal, corn protein feed, distiller's grains, and liquid feed for commercial animal feed and pet food applications, as well as yeast for human consumption. The company also provides fuel-grade ethanol used as transportation fuel and distillers corn oil used as a biodiesel feedstock, as well as fuel-grade ethanol produced by third parties. In addition, it offers transportation, storage, and delivery services through third-party service providers. The company sells ethanol to integrated oil companies and gasoline marketers; essential ingredient feed products to dairies and feedlots; and corn oil to poultry, renewable diesel, and biodiesel customers. It operates alcohol production facilities. The company was formerly known as Pacific Ethanol, Inc. and changed its name to Alto Ingredients, Inc. in January 2021. Alto Ingredients, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Pekin, Illinois.