Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) vs. Kerry Group (OTCMKTS:KRYAY) Financial Review

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) and Kerry Group (OTCMKTS:KRYAY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seneca Foods	0	0	1	0	3.00
Kerry Group	0	1	3	0	2.75

Institutional and Insider Ownership

42.5% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Kerry Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.4% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Seneca Foods has a beta of 0.11, suggesting that its share price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kerry Group has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Seneca Foods and Kerry Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seneca Foods	$1.58 billion	0.55	$41.22 million	$13.00	9.82
Kerry Group	$7.50 billion	1.99	$728.69 million	N/A	N/A

Kerry Group has higher revenue and earnings than Seneca Foods.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seneca Foods	5.58%	12.30%	6.65%
Kerry Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Seneca Foods beats Kerry Group on 6 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 jarred produce; jarred fruit; 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, Cherryman, Green Valley, and READ. In addition, it packs canned and frozen vegetables under contract packing agreements. Further, the company engages in the sale of cans, ends, and seeds, 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; specialty retailers; and food service distributors, restaurant chains, industrial markets, other food packagers, and export customers in approximately 55 countries, as well as federal, state, and local governments for school and other feeding programs. Seneca Foods Corporation was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in Fairport, New York.

About Kerry Group

Kerry Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides taste and nutrition solutions. The company operates in two segments, Taste & Nutrition, and Dairy Ireland. The Taste & Nutrition segment offers taste and nutrition solutions for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical markets. The Dairy Ireland segment provides value-add dairy ingredients and consumer products, including functional proteins and nutritional bases. It operates in Ireland, rest of Europe, the Americas, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Kerry Group plc was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Tralee, Ireland.