Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) vs. Colruyt (OTCMKTS:CUYTY) Critical Analysis

Colruyt (OTCMKTS:CUYTY) and Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Colruyt and Alto Ingredients, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colruyt	1	1	0	0	1.50
Alto Ingredients	1	1	1	0	2.00

Alto Ingredients has a consensus price target of $5.50, suggesting a potential upside of 131.58%. Given Alto Ingredients’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Alto Ingredients is more favorable than Colruyt.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Colruyt and Alto Ingredients”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colruyt	$11.77 billion	0.38	$362.36 million	N/A	N/A
Alto Ingredients	$922.31 million	0.20	-$58.98 million	($0.69)	-3.44

Colruyt has higher revenue and earnings than Alto Ingredients.

Profitability

This table compares Colruyt and Alto Ingredients’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colruyt	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alto Ingredients	-5.44%	-12.02%	-6.59%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Colruyt shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.4% of Alto Ingredients shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of Alto Ingredients shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Colruyt has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alto Ingredients has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Colruyt beats Alto Ingredients on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Colruyt

Colruyt Group N.V., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retail, wholesale, food service, and other activities in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale and Foodservice, and Other Activities. The company provides groceries, fresh products, dry products, and frozen and non-food products; and operates CNG, hydrogen filling, and charging stations. It also provides printing and document management solutions; and develops, constructs, operates, maintains, and finances wind energy projects. The company offers its products and services under the Bike Republic, Bio-Planet, Boni Selection, Collect&Go, Colruyt Group Academy, Colruyt Lowest Prices, Colruyt Prix Qualité, Cru, DATS 24, Dreambaby, Dreamland, Everyday, Graindor, Kangourou, Okay, Spar Colruyt Group, Xtra, Jims, Newpharma, The Fashion Society, Codifrance, Colex, Solucious, Spar For You, and Symeta Hybrid brands. It provides its products and services to wholesalers, commercial customers, and affiliated independent merchants, as well as schools, care homes, the hospitality sector, etc. The company was formerly known as Etn. Fr. Colruyt NV and changed its name to Colruyt Group N.V. in October 2023. The company was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Halle, Belgium.

About Alto Ingredients

Alto Ingredients, Inc. produces, distributes, and markets specialty alcohols, renewable fuel, and essential ingredients in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Marketing and Distribution, Pekin Campus Production, and Western Production. It offers specialty alcohols used in mouthwash, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hand sanitizers, disinfectants, and cleaners for health, home, and beauty markets; grain neutral spirits used in alcoholic beverages and vinegar, as well as corn germ used in corn oils in the food and beverage markets; alcohols and other products for paint applications and fertilizers in the industrial and agriculture markets; and essential ingredients include dried yeast, corn protein meal, corn protein feed, distiller's grains, and liquid feed for commercial animal feed and pet food applications, as well as yeast for human consumption. The company also provides fuel-grade ethanol used as transportation fuel and distillers corn oil used as a biodiesel feedstock, as well as fuel-grade ethanol produced by third parties. In addition, it offers transportation, storage, and delivery services through third-party service providers. The company sells ethanol to integrated oil companies and gasoline marketers; essential ingredient feed products to dairies and feedlots; and corn oil to poultry, renewable diesel, and biodiesel customers. It operates alcohol production facilities. The company was formerly known as Pacific Ethanol, Inc. and changed its name to Alto Ingredients, Inc. in January 2021. Alto Ingredients, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Pekin, Illinois.