Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) versus Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEB) Critical Analysis

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEB) and Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Seneca Foods and Utz Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seneca Foods	0	1	0	0	2.00
Utz Brands	1	9	1	0	2.00

Utz Brands has a consensus target price of $13.39, indicating a potential downside of 6.09%. Given Utz Brands’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Utz Brands is more favorable than Seneca Foods.

Profitability

This table compares Seneca Foods and Utz Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seneca Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
Utz Brands	-2.67%	7.64%	3.62%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.4% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of Utz Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of Utz Brands shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Seneca Foods and Utz Brands”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seneca Foods	$1.80 billion	N/A	N/A	$3.08	54.78
Utz Brands	$1.44 billion	1.43	$800,000.00	($0.43)	-33.15

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

Summary

Utz Brands beats Seneca Foods on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seneca Foods

Seneca Foods Corporation is a food processor and packaged-food company headquartered in Marion, New York. Founded in 1949, the company processes, packages, and distributes fruits and vegetables for retail, food-service, and industrial customers. Its product portfolio includes canned and frozen vegetables, canned fruits, applesauce, fruit products, juices, and prepared foods. Seneca sells products under its own Seneca brand and produces private-label goods for grocery retailers and other food companies.

About Utz Brands

Utz Brands, Inc. makes and markets snack foods, including potato chips, pretzels, tortilla chips, popcorn, pork rinds and cheese snacks. Its portfolio includes Utz, Zapp’s, Boulder Canyon, On The Border and Golden Flake, among other brands. Founded in 1921 by William and Salie Utz in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the company began as a family-operated potato chip business and has grown through expansion and acquisitions. Utz is headquartered in Hanover. The company sells its products across the United States, with a longstanding presence in the eastern U.S. Its products reach consumers through grocery and convenience stores, mass retailers, club stores, and other retail and food-service channels.