Head-To-Head Comparison: Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) & B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS)

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) and B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

42.5% of Seneca Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.2% of B&G Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 8.4% of Seneca Foods shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of B&G Foods shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Seneca Foods and B&G Foods, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seneca Foods	0	0	1	1	3.50
B&G Foods	2	3	0	0	1.60

B&G Foods has a consensus price target of $4.88, suggesting a potential upside of 20.37%. Given B&G Foods’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe B&G Foods is more favorable than Seneca Foods.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Seneca Foods and B&G Foods”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seneca Foods	$1.58 billion	0.62	$41.22 million	$13.00	11.11
B&G Foods	$1.83 billion	0.18	-$43.26 million	($0.96)	-4.22

Seneca Foods has higher earnings, but lower revenue than B&G Foods. B&G Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seneca Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Seneca Foods has a beta of -0.03, indicating that its share price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, B&G Foods has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Seneca Foods and B&G Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seneca Foods	5.58%	12.30%	6.65%
B&G Foods	-4.23%	9.67%	1.53%

Summary

Seneca Foods beats B&G Foods on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seneca Foods

Seneca Foods Corporation provides packaged fruits and vegetables in the United States and internationally. The company offers canned, frozen, and jarred produce; jarred fruit; and snack chips and other food products under the private label, as well as under various national and regional brands that the company owns or licenses, including Seneca, Libby’s, Aunt Nellie’s, Cherryman, Green Valley, and READ. In addition, it packs canned and frozen vegetables under contract packing agreements. Further, the company engages in the sale of cans, ends, and seeds, as well as trucking and aircraft operations. It provides its products to grocery outlets, including supermarkets, mass merchandisers, limited assortment stores, club stores, and dollar stores; specialty retailers; and food service distributors, restaurant chains, industrial markets, other food packagers, and export customers in approximately 55 countries, as well as federal, state, and local governments for school and other feeding programs. Seneca Foods Corporation was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in Fairport, New York.

About B&G Foods

B&G Foods, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of shelf-stable frozen food, and household products in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. It operates through the following segments: Specialty, Meals, Frozen & Vegetables, and Spices & Flavor Solutions. The Specialty segment includes, among others, the Crisco, Clabber Girl, Bear Creek, Polaner, Underwood, B&G, Grandma’s, New York Style, Don Pepino, Sclafani, B&M, Baker’s Joy, Regina, TrueNorth, Static Guard, SugarTwin and Brer Rabbit brands. The Meals segment focuses on the Ortega, Maple Grove Farms, Cream of Wheat, Las Palmas, Victoria, Mama Mary’s, Spring Tree, McCann’s, Carey’s and Vermont Maid brands. The Frozen & Vegetables segment consists of Green Giant and Le Sueur brands. The Spices & Flavor Solutions segment offers Dash, Spice Islands, Weber, Ac’cent, Tone’s, Trappey’s, Durkee and Wright’s brands. Its products include frozen and canned vegetables, hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, and wine vinegar. Its brands include Back to Nature, Bear Creek, Cream of Wheat, Green Giant, Mrs. Dash, and Ortega. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ.