Financial Analysis: Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) versus Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA)

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) and Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ingles Markets and Grove Collaborative”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ingles Markets	$5.33 billion	0.29	$83.59 million	$5.47	15.12
Grove Collaborative	$173.72 million	0.25	-$11.72 million	($0.19)	-5.29

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.5% of Ingles Markets shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Grove Collaborative shares are held by institutional investors. 22.8% of Ingles Markets shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 30.3% of Grove Collaborative shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ingles Markets	1.92%	6.30%	4.01%
Grove Collaborative	-4.07%	N/A	-12.35%

Risk and Volatility

Ingles Markets has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grove Collaborative has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Ingles Markets and Grove Collaborative, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ingles Markets	0	0	1	0	3.00
Grove Collaborative	1	0	1	0	2.00

Grove Collaborative has a consensus price target of $2.00, indicating a potential upside of 99.00%. Given Grove Collaborative’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Grove Collaborative is more favorable than Ingles Markets.

Summary

Ingles Markets beats Grove Collaborative on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ingles Markets

Ingles Markets, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, operates a chain of supermarkets in the southeast United States. It offers food products, including grocery, meat and dairy products, produce, frozen foods, and other perishables; and non-food products, which include fuel centers, pharmacies, health and beauty care products, and general merchandise, as well as private label items. The company owns and operates a milk processing and packaging plant that supplies organic milk, fruit juices, and bottled water products to other retailers, food service distributors, and grocery warehouses. In addition, it provides home meal replacement items, delicatessens, bakeries, floral departments, and greeting cards, as well as broad selections of local organic, beverage, and health-related items. The company operates under the Ingles and Sav-Mor brand names. Ingles Markets, Incorporated was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina.

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.