Comparing Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) & Pyxus International (OTCMKTS:PYYX)

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) and Pyxus International (OTCMKTS:PYYX) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Calavo Growers and Pyxus International”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Calavo Growers	$661.54 million	0.67	-$1.08 million	$0.88	28.40
Pyxus International	$119.15 million	0.68	$15.17 million	($0.20)	-16.45

Pyxus International has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Calavo Growers. Pyxus International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Calavo Growers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.3% of Calavo Growers shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Calavo Growers shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.0% of Pyxus International shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Calavo Growers and Pyxus International, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Calavo Growers	0	2	1	0	2.33
Pyxus International	0	0	0	0	0.00

Calavo Growers presently has a consensus price target of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 60.06%. Given Calavo Growers’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Calavo Growers is more favorable than Pyxus International.

Profitability

This table compares Calavo Growers and Pyxus International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Calavo Growers	2.28%	11.73%	7.86%
Pyxus International	-0.23%	-3.32%	-0.30%

Summary

Calavo Growers beats Pyxus International on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Calavo Growers

Calavo Growers, Inc. markets and distributes avocados, prepared avocados, and other perishable foods to retail grocery and foodservice customers, club stores, mass merchandisers, food distributors, and wholesale customers worldwide. It operates through Grown and Prepared segments. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. The Prepared segment is involved in the distribution of prepared avocado products, salsa, fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, fresh prepared entrees salads, wraps, sandwiches, parfaits, and fresh snacking products, as well as ready-to-heat entrees, other hot bars and various deli items, meals kit components, and salad kits. It offers its products under the Calavo brands and related logos; and Avo Fresco, Bueno, Avo Fresco, Bueno, Calavo Gold, Celebrate the Taste, El Dorado, Taste of Paradise, The First Name in Avocados, The Family of Fresh, ProRipeVIP, RIPE NOW!, Renaissance Food Group, Garden Highway Fresh Cut, Garden Highway, and Garden Highway Chef Essentials trademarks. Calavo Growers, Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Santa Paula, California.

About Pyxus International

Pyxus International, Inc., an agricultural company, offers value-added products and services to businesses and customers. It also involved in the purchasing, processing, packing, storing, and shipping tobacco to manufacturers of cigarettes and other consumer tobacco products. The company offers its products in China, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Russia, Northern Africa, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Old Holdco, Inc. Pyxus International, Inc. was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina.