Critical Review: B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) and Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA)

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) and Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for B&G Foods and Seneca Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
B&G Foods	2	3	0	0	1.60
Seneca Foods	0	0	1	1	3.50

B&G Foods currently has a consensus target price of $4.88, indicating a potential upside of 19.11%. Given B&G Foods’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe B&G Foods is more favorable than Seneca Foods.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.2% of B&G Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.5% of Seneca Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of B&G Foods shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Seneca Foods shares are held by 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.

Volatility & Risk

B&G Foods has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Seneca Foods has a beta of -0.03, suggesting that its stock price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares B&G Foods and Seneca Foods”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
B&G Foods	$1.83 billion	0.18	-$43.26 million	($0.96)	-4.26
Seneca Foods	$1.58 billion	0.62	$41.22 million	$13.00	11.06

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

Profitability

This table compares B&G Foods and Seneca Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
B&G Foods	-4.23%	9.67%	1.53%
Seneca Foods	5.58%	12.30%	6.65%

Summary

Seneca Foods beats B&G Foods on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About B&G Foods

B&G Foods, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of shelf-stable frozen food, and household products in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. It operates through the following segments: Specialty, Meals, Frozen & Vegetables, and Spices & Flavor Solutions. The Specialty segment includes, among others, the Crisco, Clabber Girl, Bear Creek, Polaner, Underwood, B&G, Grandma’s, New York Style, Don Pepino, Sclafani, B&M, Baker’s Joy, Regina, TrueNorth, Static Guard, SugarTwin and Brer Rabbit brands. The Meals segment focuses on the Ortega, Maple Grove Farms, Cream of Wheat, Las Palmas, Victoria, Mama Mary’s, Spring Tree, McCann’s, Carey’s and Vermont Maid brands. The Frozen & Vegetables segment consists of Green Giant and Le Sueur brands. The Spices & Flavor Solutions segment offers Dash, Spice Islands, Weber, Ac’cent, Tone’s, Trappey’s, Durkee and Wright’s brands. Its products include frozen and canned vegetables, hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, and wine vinegar. Its brands include Back to Nature, Bear Creek, Cream of Wheat, Green Giant, Mrs. Dash, and Ortega. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ.

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.