Lavoro (NASDAQ:LVRO) & Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Critical Review

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

Profitability

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

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Dole and Lavoro, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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

Dole currently has a consensus target price of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.89%. Lavoro has a consensus target price of $3.44, indicating a potential upside of 1,030.76%. Given Lavoro’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lavoro is more favorable than Dole.

Volatility and Risk

Dole has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lavoro has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Dole and Lavoro”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dole	$9.17 billion	0.15	$51.32 million	$0.53	27.11
Lavoro	$6.52 billion	0.01	-$466.28 million	($1.57)	-0.19

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

Summary

Dole beats Lavoro on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.