Local Bounti (NYSE:LOCL) versus Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) Financial Survey

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) and Local Bounti (NYSE:LOCL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Marzetti has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Local Bounti has a beta of 2.88, suggesting that its share price is 188% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.4% of Marzetti shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.0% of Local Bounti shares are held by institutional investors. 29.3% of Marzetti shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.2% of Local Bounti shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Marzetti and Local Bounti, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marzetti	1	2	0	0	1.67
Local Bounti	1	0	0	0	1.00

Marzetti presently has a consensus target price of $132.50, indicating a potential upside of 24.41%. Given Marzetti’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Marzetti is more favorable than Local Bounti.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Marzetti and Local Bounti”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marzetti	$1.93 billion	1.50	$191.61 million	$6.33	16.83
Local Bounti	$51.84 million	0.41	-$94.38 million	($2.77)	-0.33

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

Profitability

This table compares Marzetti and Local Bounti’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marzetti	9.06%	16.46%	11.64%
Local Bounti	-130.52%	N/A	-16.45%

Summary

Marzetti beats Local Bounti on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marzetti

Lancaster Colony Corporation engages in the manufacturing and marketing of specialty food products for the retail and foodservice channels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Retail and Foodservice. The company offers frozen garlic bread under the New York BRAND Bakery; frozen Parkerhouse style yeast and dinner rolls under the Sister Schubert's brand; salad dressings under the Marzetti, Simply Dressed, Cardini's, and Girard's brands; vegetable and fruit dips under the Marzetti brand; croutons and salad toppings under the New York BRAND Bakery, Chatham Village, and Marzetti brands; and frozen pasta under the Marzetti Frozen Pasta brand. It also manufactures and sells other products to brand license agreements, including Olive Garden dressings, Buffalo Wild Wings sauces, and Chick-fil-A sauces. The company sells its products through sales personnel, food brokers, and distributors to retailers and restaurants. Lancaster Colony Corporation was incorporated in 1961 and is based in Westerville, Ohio.

About Local Bounti

Local Bounti Corporation grows and packs fresh greens in the United States. It produces lettuce, herbs, and loose-leaf lettuce. The company sells its products to food retailers and food service distributors. Local Bounti Corporation was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Montana.