Reviewing Dole (NYSE:DOLE) and Local Bounti (NYSE:LOCL)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Local Bounti	-138.57%	N/A	-16.64%
Dole	0.46%	7.63%	2.51%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Local Bounti and Dole, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Local Bounti	1	0	0	0	1.00
Dole	1	3	0	0	1.75

Dole has a consensus price target of $15.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.56%. Given Dole’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Dole is more favorable than Local Bounti.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Local Bounti and Dole”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Local Bounti	$48.37 million	0.60	-$94.38 million	($3.72)	-0.34
Dole	$9.17 billion	0.15	$51.32 million	$0.45	31.16

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

28.0% of Local Bounti shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.0% of Local Bounti shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 41.8% of Dole shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Local Bounti has a beta of 2.71, indicating that its share price is 171% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dole has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Dole beats Local Bounti on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Local Bounti

Local Bounti Corporation grows and packs fresh greens in the United States. It produces lettuce, herbs, and loose-leaf lettuce. The company sells its products to food retailers and food service distributors. Local Bounti Corporation was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Montana.

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.