Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) versus Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Financial Contrast

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) and Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vital Farms and Pilgrim’s Pride”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vital Farms	$759.44 million	0.66	$66.28 million	($0.04)	-292.50
Pilgrim’s Pride	$18.50 billion	0.38	$1.08 billion	$2.30	12.85

Pilgrim’s Pride has higher revenue and earnings than Vital Farms. Vital Farms is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pilgrim’s Pride, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Vital Farms and Pilgrim’s Pride’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vital Farms	0.02%	3.46%	2.25%
Pilgrim’s Pride	2.96%	21.70%	7.90%

Volatility and Risk

Vital Farms has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pilgrim’s Pride has a beta of 0.27, indicating that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.6% of Vital Farms shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.6% of Pilgrim’s Pride shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Vital Farms shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 82.2% of Pilgrim’s Pride shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Vital Farms and Pilgrim’s Pride, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vital Farms	1	8	5	0	2.29
Pilgrim’s Pride	1	5	2	0	2.12

Vital Farms presently has a consensus price target of $17.18, suggesting a potential upside of 46.85%. Pilgrim’s Pride has a consensus price target of $36.50, suggesting a potential upside of 23.48%. Given Vital Farms’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Vital Farms is more favorable than Pilgrim’s Pride.

Summary

Pilgrim’s Pride beats Vital Farms on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vital Farms

Vital Farms, Inc., a food company, provides pasture-raised products in the United States. It offers shell eggs, butter, hard-boiled eggs, and liquid whole eggs. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A. Pilgrim and Aubrey Pilgrim on October 2, 1946, and is headquartered in Greeley, CO.