Head to Head Analysis: Dole (NYSE:DOLE) & Davis Commodities (NASDAQ:DTCK)

Davis Commodities (NASDAQ:DTCK) and Dole (NYSE:DOLE) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.8% of Davis Commodities shares are held by institutional investors. 41.8% of Dole shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Davis Commodities and Dole’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Davis Commodities	N/A	N/A	N/A
Dole	0.56%	7.81%	2.55%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Davis Commodities and Dole”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Davis Commodities	$132.37 million	0.02	-$3.53 million	N/A	N/A
Dole	$9.17 billion	0.16	$51.32 million	$0.53	29.08

Dole has higher revenue and earnings than Davis Commodities.

Volatility & Risk

Davis Commodities has a beta of -0.03, indicating that its share price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dole has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Davis Commodities and Dole, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Davis Commodities	1	0	0	0	1.00
Dole	0	2	0	0	2.00

Dole has a consensus price target of $16.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.83%. Given Dole’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Dole is more favorable than Davis Commodities.

Summary

Dole beats Davis Commodities on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Davis Commodities

Davis Commodities Limited, an investment holding company, operates as an agricultural commodity trading company in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The company trades in agricultural commodities, including sugar, rice, and oil and fat products under the Maxwill and Taffy brands. It also provides warehouse storage and logistic, as well as agency services. Davis Commodities Limited was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Singapore. The company operates as a subsidiary of Davis & KT Holdings Pte. Ltd.

About Dole

Dole Food Company, Inc. (Dole) is a producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. The Company is a producer of bananas and pineapples, and packaged fruit products, packaged salads and fresh-packed vegetables. The Company has three business segments: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged foods. The fresh fruit segment contains operating divisions that produce and market fresh fruit to wholesale, retail and institutional customers worldwide. The fresh vegetables segment produces and markets fresh-packed and value-added vegetables and salads to wholesale, retail and institutional customers, primarily in North America and Europe. The packaged foods segment contains several operating divisions that produce and market packaged foods, including fruit, juices, frozen fruit and healthy snack foods. In November 2013, Dole Food Company, Inc announced that an investor group acquired the remaining 60.43% interest in the Company.