Critical Contrast: BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas (NYSE:LND) versus YaSheng Group (OTCMKTS:HERB)

YaSheng Group (OTCMKTS:HERB) and BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas (NYSE:LND) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.2% of BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

YaSheng Group has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares YaSheng Group and BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
YaSheng Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas	19.69%	12.49%	7.80%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for YaSheng Group and BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
YaSheng Group	0	0	0	0	N/A
BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas	0	0	0	0	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares YaSheng Group and BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
YaSheng Group	$18.59 million	0.93	$5.31 million	N/A	N/A
BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas	$278.62 million	1.81	$52.01 million	$0.53	9.26

BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas has higher revenue and earnings than YaSheng Group.

Summary

BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas beats YaSheng Group on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About YaSheng Group

YaSheng Group, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets farming and sideline products; chemical materials and products; textiles; construction materials; and livestock and poultry products primarily in the People's Republic of China. It cultivates, processes, markets, and distributes various food and agro-byproducts. The company's products include cotton, corns, barley, wheat, flax, and alfalfa; vegetables comprising onions, potatoes, beet, and peas; fruits, including apples, pears, and apricots; specialty crops consisting of hops, wolfberries, cumin, hemp, and liquorices; seeds, such as black melon, sunflower, corn, hemp, and flax seeds; and eggs. It also provides construction materials, such as cement; and designs, develops, and markets new technologies related to agriculture and genetic biology. The company sells its products to food processors, supermarkets, and wholesale stores through distributors, as well as to direct customers. YaSheng Group exports its products. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Lanzhou, the People's Republic of China. As of December 31, 2015, YaSheng Group is a subsidiary of Gansu Yasheng Salt Chemical Industrial Group, Ltd.

About BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas

BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and sale of rural properties suitable for agricultural activities in Brazil and internationally. It operates through six segments: Real Estate, Grains, Sugarcane, livestock, Cotton, and Other. The company involved in the cultivation of soybean, corn, sesame, and cotton, as well as sugarcane; and production and sale of beef calves after weaning. It also imports and exports agricultural products, livestock, and forestry activities and inputs; purchases, sells, and/or rents rural/urban properties; provides real estate brokerage services; and manages third-party assets. It operates farms through own and leased lands. BrasilAgro – Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.