American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD – Get Free Report) and Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares American Vanguard and Scotts Miracle-Gro”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Vanguard | $515.11 million | 0.06 | -$49.88 million | ($1.90) | -0.58 |
| Scotts Miracle-Gro | $3.41 billion | 1.06 | $145.20 million | $1.15 | 54.10 |
Scotts Miracle-Gro has higher revenue and earnings than American Vanguard. American Vanguard is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Scotts Miracle-Gro, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
79.0% of American Vanguard shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.1% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of American Vanguard shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 24.4% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for American Vanguard and Scotts Miracle-Gro, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Vanguard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Scotts Miracle-Gro | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2.67 |
Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus target price of $70.20, suggesting a potential upside of 12.83%. Given Scotts Miracle-Gro’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Scotts Miracle-Gro is more favorable than American Vanguard.
Risk & Volatility
American Vanguard has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its stock price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a beta of 1.87, meaning that its stock price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares American Vanguard and Scotts Miracle-Gro’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Vanguard | -10.70% | -9.05% | -2.78% |
| Scotts Miracle-Gro | 2.19% | -81.90% | 8.97% |
Summary
Scotts Miracle-Gro beats American Vanguard on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About American Vanguard
American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection. The company also markets, sells, and distributes end-use chemical and biological products for crop applications; and distributes chemicals for turf and ornamental markets. It distributes its products through national distribution companies, and buying groups or co-operatives; and through sales offices, sales force executives, sales agents, and wholly owned distributors. American Vanguard Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
About Scotts Miracle-Gro
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, and other durable products, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; and gardening and landscape products, which include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes, garden soils, mulches and ground cover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions. It offers hydroponic products that help users to grow plants, flowers, and vegetables using little or no soil; lighting systems and components for use in hydroponic and indoor gardening applications; insect, rodent, and weed control products for home areas; and non-selective weed killer products. The company sells its products under the Scotts, Turf Builder, EZ Seed, PatchMaster, Thick'R Lawn, GrubEx, EdgeGuard, Handy Green II, Miracle-Gro, LiquaFeed, Shake N Feed, Hyponex, Earthgro, Nature Scapes, Ortho, Miracle-Gro Performance Organics, Miracle-Gro Organic Choice, Whitney Farms, EcoScraps, Mother Earth, Botanicare, General Hydroponics, Cyco, Gavita, Agrolux, HydroLogic Purification System, Gro Pro, AeroGarden, Titan, Tomcat, Ortho Weed B Gon, Roundup, Groundclear, and Alchemist brands. It serves home centers, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, large hardware chains, independent hardware stores, nurseries, garden centers, e-commerce platforms, and food and drug stores, as well as indoor gardening and hydroponic distributors, retailers, and growers. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Marysville, Ohio.
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