Critical Comparison: National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) versus Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST)

Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) and National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

45.1% of Westrock Coffee shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.0% of National Beverage shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.7% of Westrock Coffee shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 74.7% of National Beverage shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Westrock Coffee has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Beverage has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Westrock Coffee and National Beverage”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westrock Coffee	$850.73 million	0.58	-$80.30 million	($0.98)	-5.21
National Beverage	$1.20 billion	2.78	$186.82 million	$1.99	17.91

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Westrock Coffee and National Beverage, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westrock Coffee	1	0	3	0	2.50
National Beverage	2	0	0	0	1.00

Westrock Coffee currently has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 76.23%. National Beverage has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.78%. Given Westrock Coffee’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Westrock Coffee is more favorable than National Beverage.

Profitability

This table compares Westrock Coffee and National Beverage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westrock Coffee	-8.58%	-98.07%	-4.26%
National Beverage	15.55%	39.29%	27.10%

Summary

National Beverage beats Westrock Coffee on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Westrock Coffee

Westrock Coffee Company, LLC operates as an integrated coffee, tea, flavors, extracts, and ingredients solutions provider in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Beverage Solutions, and Sustainable Sourcing & Traceability (SS&T). The Beverage Solutions segment provides various packaging, including branded and private label coffee in bags, fractional packs, and single serve cups, as well as extract solutions for applications in cold brew and ready-to-drink offerings. The SS&T segment engages in delivery and settlement of forward sales contracts for green coffee. The company offers coffee sourcing, supply chain management, product development, roasting, packaging, and distribution services to the retail, food service and restaurant, convenience store and travel center, non-commercial account, CPG, and hospitality industries. Westrock Coffee Company, LLC was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.

About National Beverage

National Beverage Corp., through its subsidiaries, develops, produces, markets, and sells a portfolio of sparkling waters, juices, energy drinks, and carbonated soft drinks primarily in the United States and Canada. The company's Power+ brand portfolio offers sparkling water products under the LaCroix, LaCroix Cúrate, and LaCroix NiCola; non-carbonated flavored water under the Clear Fruit; energy drink and shots under the Rip It; juice and juice-based products under Everfresh, Everfresh Premier Varietals, and Mr. Pure; and carbonated soft drinks under Shasta and Faygo brands. It serves retailers, as well as various smaller up-and-down-the-street accounts through the take-home, convenience, and food-service distribution channels. National Beverage Corp. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.