Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) versus J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) Critical Survey

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) and Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

76.0% of J & J Snack Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.1% of Village Farms International shares are held by institutional investors. 20.4% of J & J Snack Foods shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.2% of Village Farms International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for J & J Snack Foods and Village Farms International, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
J & J Snack Foods	1	1	2	0	2.25
Village Farms International	0	2	0	0	2.00

J & J Snack Foods currently has a consensus target price of $110.50, indicating a potential upside of 23.01%. Given J & J Snack Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe J & J Snack Foods is more favorable than Village Farms International.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares J & J Snack Foods and Village Farms International”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
J & J Snack Foods	$1.52 billion	1.10	$65.60 million	$2.60	34.55
Village Farms International	$215.94 million	1.63	$32.44 million	$0.17	16.94

J & J Snack Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Village Farms International. Village Farms International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than J & J Snack Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

J & J Snack Foods has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Village Farms International has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares J & J Snack Foods and Village Farms International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
J & J Snack Foods	3.23%	8.93%	6.07%
Village Farms International	9.85%	7.62%	5.48%

Summary

J & J Snack Foods beats Village Farms International on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About J & J Snack Foods

J&J Snack Foods Corp. engages in the manufacturing of nutritional snack foods and distribution of frozen beverages to the food service and retail supermarket industries. It operates through the following segments: Food Service, Retail Supermarkets, and Frozen Beverages. The Food Service segment includes soft pretzels, frozen novelties, churros, handheld products, and baked goods. The Retail Supermarkets segment offers soft pretzel products including Superpretzel, frozen juice treats and desserts, including Luigi’s real Italian ice, Minute Maid juice bars and soft frozen lemonade, Whole Fruit frozen fruit bars and sorbet, Philly Swirl cups and sticks, ICEE Squeeze-Up Tubes and dough enrobed handheld products including Patio burritos. The Frozen Beverages segment provides frozen beverages to the food service industry primarily under the names ICEE, SLUSH PUPPIE, and PARROT ICE in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, as well as repair and maintenance services. The company was founded by Gerald B. Shreiber in 1971 and is headquartered in Mount Laurel, NJ.

About Village Farms International

Village Farms International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and sells greenhouse-grown tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers in North America. It operates through four segments: Produce, Cannabis-Canada, Cannabis-U.S., and Energy. The company also produces and supplies cannabis products to other licensed providers and provincial governments in Canada and internationally; develops and sells cannabinoid-based health and wellness products, including ingestible, edibles, and topical applications; and produces power. It markets and distributes its products under the Village Farms brand name to retail supermarkets and fresh food distribution companies, as well as products produced under exclusive and non-exclusive arrangements from greenhouse supply partners. The company was formerly known as Village Farms Canada Inc. and changed its name to Village Farms International, Inc. in December 2009. Village Farms International, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Delta, Canada.