Comparing Lavoro (NASDAQ:LVRO) & Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW)

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) and Lavoro (NASDAQ:LVRO) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Calavo Growers and Lavoro’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Calavo Growers	3.05%	13.43%	9.14%
Lavoro	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Calavo Growers and Lavoro, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Calavo Growers	1	1	1	0	2.00
Lavoro	3	1	0	0	1.25

Calavo Growers presently has a consensus price target of $33.50, indicating a potential upside of 26.65%. Lavoro has a consensus price target of $3.44, indicating a potential upside of 754.67%. Given Lavoro’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lavoro is more favorable than Calavo Growers.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Calavo Growers and Lavoro”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Calavo Growers	$648.43 million	0.73	$19.80 million	$1.10	24.05
Lavoro	$6.52 billion	0.01	-$466.28 million	($1.57)	-0.26

Calavo Growers has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Lavoro. Lavoro is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Calavo Growers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Calavo Growers has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lavoro has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.3% of Calavo Growers shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.5% of Lavoro shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Calavo Growers shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Calavo Growers beats Lavoro on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Calavo Growers

Calavo Growers, Inc. markets and distributes avocados, prepared avocados, and other perishable foods to retail grocery and foodservice customers, club stores, mass merchandisers, food distributors, and wholesale customers worldwide. It operates through Grown and Prepared segments. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. The Prepared segment is involved in the distribution of prepared avocado products, salsa, fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, fresh prepared entrees salads, wraps, sandwiches, parfaits, and fresh snacking products, as well as ready-to-heat entrees, other hot bars and various deli items, meals kit components, and salad kits. It offers its products under the Calavo brands and related logos; and Avo Fresco, Bueno, Avo Fresco, Bueno, Calavo Gold, Celebrate the Taste, El Dorado, Taste of Paradise, The First Name in Avocados, The Family of Fresh, ProRipeVIP, RIPE NOW!, Renaissance Food Group, Garden Highway Fresh Cut, Garden Highway, and Garden Highway Chef Essentials trademarks. Calavo Growers, Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Santa Paula, California.

About Lavoro

Lavoro Limited operates as an agricultural inputs retailer. The company operates through three segments: Brazil Cluster, LATAM Cluster, and Crop Care Cluster. It distributes agricultural inputs, such as crop protection, seeds, fertilizers, foliar fertilizers, biologicals, adjuvants, organominerals, and others for the agricultural industry. The company also produces specialty fertilizers, crop protection products, and biological crop inputs. It operates in Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay. The company sells its products through its physical stores and digital channel. Lavoro Limited was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.