Head to Head Contrast: Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEB) vs. Hershey (NYSE:HSY)

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEB) and Hershey (NYSE:HSY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Seneca Foods and Hershey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seneca Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hershey	12.24%	31.92%	10.71%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Seneca Foods and Hershey”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seneca Foods	$1.77 billion	N/A	N/A	$3.08	57.39
Hershey	$12.16 billion	2.69	$883.26 million	$7.32	22.22

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Seneca Foods and Hershey, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seneca Foods	0	1	0	0	2.00
Hershey	0	16	6	0	2.27

Hershey has a consensus price target of $203.67, indicating a potential upside of 25.23%. Given Hershey’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hershey is more favorable than Seneca Foods.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.4% of Seneca Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.0% of Hershey shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Seneca Foods shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Hershey shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Hershey beats Seneca Foods on 9 of the 11 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 bottled produce; 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, READ, Green Valley, Paradise, Seneca Farms, and CherryMan. It also packs Green Giant, Le Sueur, and other brands of canned vegetables, as well as select Green Giant frozen vegetables for B&G Foods North America under a contract packing agreement. In addition, the company engages in the sale of cans and ends, 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; and food service distributors, industrial markets, other food packagers, and export customers in 90 countries, as well as federal, state, and local governments for school and other feeding programs. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Marion, New York.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels. The company provides its products primarily under the Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Jolly Rancher, Almond Joy, Brookside, barkTHINS, Cadbury, Good & Plenty, Heath, Kit Kat, Payday, Rolo, Twizzlers, Whoppers, York, Ice Breakers, Breath Savers, Bubble Yum, Lily’s, SkinnyPop, Pirates Booty, Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels, and ONE Bar brands, as well as under the Pelon Pelo Rico, IO-IO, and Sofit brands. It markets and sells its products to wholesale distributors, chain grocery stores, mass merchandisers, chain drug stores, vending companies, wholesale clubs, convenience stores, dollar stores, concessionaires, and department stores. The company exports its products in approximately 80 countries worldwide. The Hershey Company was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania.