Head to Head Contrast: Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) and Cuisine Solutions (OTCMKTS:CUSI)

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) and Cuisine Solutions (OTCMKTS:CUSI) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.5% of Flowers Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 11.6% of Flowers Foods shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 61.1% of Cuisine Solutions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Flowers Foods pays an annual dividend of $0.99 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.3%. Cuisine Solutions pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.2%. Flowers Foods pays out 247.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Flowers Foods has raised its dividend for 24 consecutive years. Flowers Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Flowers Foods has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cuisine Solutions has a beta of -0.35, indicating that its stock price is 135% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Flowers Foods and Cuisine Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flowers Foods	1.59%	16.61%	5.38%
Cuisine Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Flowers Foods and Cuisine Solutions”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flowers Foods	$5.26 billion	0.32	$83.82 million	$0.40	20.18
Cuisine Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Flowers Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Cuisine Solutions.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Flowers Foods and Cuisine Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flowers Foods	2	4	0	0	1.67
Cuisine Solutions	0	0	0	0	0.00

Flowers Foods currently has a consensus target price of $11.80, indicating a potential upside of 46.18%. Given Flowers Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Flowers Foods is more favorable than Cuisine Solutions.

Summary

Flowers Foods beats Cuisine Solutions on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc. produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs. Freshley's, and Tastykake brand names. The company distributes its products through a direct-store-delivery distribution and a warehouse delivery system, as well as operates bakeries. Its customers include national and regional restaurants, institutions and foodservice distributors, and retail in-store bakeries; wholesale distributors; mass merchandisers, supermarkets, vending outlets, and convenience stores; quick-serve chains, food wholesalers, institutions, dollar stores, and vending companies; and public health care, military commissaries, and prisons, and other governmental institutions. The company was formerly known as Flowers Industries and changed its name to Flowers Foods, Inc. in 2001. Flowers Foods, Inc. was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia.

About Cuisine Solutions

Cuisine Solutions, Inc. produces and markets various food products in the United States. Its products include beef, lamb, pork and veal, pastas, poultry, sauces, seafood, and vegetarian meals. The company offers its products to foodservice, on board services, retail, military, and national restaurant chain industries. Cuisine Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is based in Sterling, Virginia.