Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO – Get Free Report) and Edible Garden (NASDAQ:EDBL – Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Flowers Foods and Edible Garden’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Flowers Foods | 1.06% | 14.91% | 4.72% |
| Edible Garden | -122.09% | N/A | -78.65% |
Volatility & Risk
Flowers Foods has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Edible Garden has a beta of 1.75, meaning that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Flowers Foods | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
| Edible Garden | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Flowers Foods currently has a consensus price target of $7.60, suggesting a potential upside of 32.34%. Edible Garden has a consensus price target of $45.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3,529.03%. Given Edible Garden’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Edible Garden is more favorable than Flowers Foods.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
75.5% of Flowers Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.0% of Edible Garden shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Flowers Foods shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Edible Garden shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Flowers Foods and Edible Garden”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 | 0.23 | $83.82 million | $0.26 | 22.09 |
| Edible Garden | $12.81 million | 0.13 | -$17.33 million | ($1,994.47) | -0.00 |
Flowers Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Edible Garden. Edible Garden is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Flowers Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Flowers Foods beats Edible Garden on 10 of the 14 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 Edible Garden
Edible Garden AG Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, operate as a controlled environment agriculture farming company. It offers various packaged products, including cilantro, rosemary, mint, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, chives, poultry mix, sage, dill, buttercrunch living lettuce, basil, living butterhead lettuce, basil, parsley, arugula spring mix, baby arugula blend, baby romaine, and crisp ranch and Caesar salad kits. The company sells its products to various regional and national supermarkets. Edible Garden AG Incorporated was founded in 2020 and is based in Belvidere, New Jersey.
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