Critical Analysis: Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) versus Innovative Food (OTCMKTS:IVFH)

Innovative Food (OTCMKTS:IVFH) and Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

12.7% of Innovative Food shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Grove Collaborative shares are held by institutional investors. 13.5% of Innovative Food shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 30.3% of Grove Collaborative shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Innovative Food and Grove Collaborative’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Innovative Food	N/A	N/A	N/A
Grove Collaborative	-5.52%	N/A	-16.95%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Innovative Food and Grove Collaborative, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Innovative Food	0	0	0	0	0.00
Grove Collaborative	1	0	1	0	2.00

Grove Collaborative has a consensus price target of $2.00, indicating a potential upside of 81.00%. Given Grove Collaborative’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Grove Collaborative is more favorable than Innovative Food.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Innovative Food and Grove Collaborative”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Innovative Food	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.14)	-1.90
Grove Collaborative	$173.72 million	0.27	-$11.72 million	($0.26)	-4.25

Innovative Food has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Grove Collaborative. Grove Collaborative is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Innovative Food, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Grove Collaborative beats Innovative Food on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Innovative Food

Innovative Food Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and food related products to restaurants, hotels, country clubs, national chain accounts, casinos, hospitals, and catering houses in the United States. The company distributes perishable and specialty food and food related products, including origin-specific seafood, domestic and imported meats, exotic game and poultry, artisanal cheeses, freshly prepared meals, caviar, wild and cultivated mushrooms, micro-greens, organic farmed and manufactured food products, estate-bottled olive oils and aged vinegars, and curated food gift baskets and gift boxes, as well as a full range of food subscription based offerings. It also provides a line of specialty healthcare related products; and customer service and logistics services. In addition, the company offers its products through business to business and other e-commerce channels, as well as websites comprising www.igourmet.com and www.mouth.com; and directly from its network of vendors and warehouses. Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. is based in Bonita Springs, Florida.

About Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative Holdings, Inc. operates as a plastic neutral consumer products retailer in the United States. It offers household, personal care, beauty, and other consumer products through retail channels, third parties, direct-to-consumer platform, and mobile applications, as well as online store. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.