Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) & Hydrofarm Holdings Group (NASDAQ:HYFM) Critical Contrast

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) and Hydrofarm Holdings Group (NASDAQ:HYFM) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Andersons and Hydrofarm Holdings Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Andersons	0	1	2	0	2.67
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	0	2	0	0	2.00

Andersons currently has a consensus target price of $51.67, indicating a potential upside of 41.40%. Hydrofarm Holdings Group has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 78.34%. Given Hydrofarm Holdings Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hydrofarm Holdings Group is more favorable than Andersons.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.1% of Andersons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Hydrofarm Holdings Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Andersons shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.9% of Hydrofarm Holdings Group 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

Andersons has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hydrofarm Holdings Group has a beta of 2.38, suggesting that its stock price is 138% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Andersons and Hydrofarm Holdings Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Andersons	$11.26 billion	0.11	$114.01 million	$3.17	11.53
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	$176.65 million	0.10	-$66.72 million	($14.92)	-0.26

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

Profitability

This table compares Andersons and Hydrofarm Holdings Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Andersons	0.97%	7.35%	3.14%
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	-38.77%	-24.85%	-13.26%

Summary

Andersons beats Hydrofarm Holdings Group on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc. operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company’s Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil. This segment also engages in the commodity merchandising business, as well as offers logistics for physical commodities, such as whole grains, grain products, feed ingredients, domestic fuel products, and other agricultural commodities. Its Renewables segment produces, purchases, and sells ethanol, and co-products, as well as offers facility operations, risk management, and marketing services to the ethanol plants it invests in and operates. The company’s Nutrient & Industrial segment manufactures, distributes, and retails agricultural and related plant nutrients, liquid industrial products, corncob-based products, and pelleted lime and gypsum products, as well as turf fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide products; and crop nutrients, crop protection chemicals, and seed products, as well as provides application and agronomic services to commercial and family farmers. In addition, this segment produces corncob-based products for laboratory animal bedding and private-label cat litter, as well as absorbents, blast cleaners, carriers, and polishers; professional lawn care products for golf course and turf care markets; fertilizer and weed, and pest control products; dry and liquid agricultural nutrients, pelleted lime, gypsum, and soil amendments; and micronutrients, as well as industrial products comprising nitrogen reagents, calcium nitrate, deicers, and dust abatement products. The Andersons, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in Maumee, Ohio.

About Hydrofarm Holdings Group

Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes controlled environment agriculture (CEA) equipment and supplies in the United States and Canada. The company provides agricultural lighting devices, indoor climate control equipment, and nutrients, as well as plant additives used to grow, farm, and cultivate cannabis, flowers, fruits, plants, vegetables, grains, and herbs in controlled environment. It is also involved in the distribution of CEA equipment and supplies comprising nutrients and fertilizers; grow light systems; horticulture benches and racking systems; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems; humidity and carbon dioxide monitors and controllers; water pumps, heaters, chillers, and filters; and various growing media typically made from soil, peat, rock wool or coconut fiber, and others. The company offers its products to specialty hydroponic retailers, commercial resellers and greenhouse builders, garden centers, hardware stores, and e-commerce retailers under the Active Air, Active Aqua, Aurora Peat Products, HEAVY 16, House & Garden, Gaia Green, Grotek, Innovative Growers Equipment, Mad Farmer, Phantom, PHOTOBIO, Procision, Roots Organics, Soul, and SunBlaster brands. It serves its products through a range of commercial and home gardening equipment and supplies retailers. Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. was founded in 1977 and is based in Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania.