Head-To-Head Analysis: B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) & General Mills (NYSE:GIS)

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) and General Mills (NYSE:GIS) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and earnings.

Dividends

B&G Foods pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 16.3%. General Mills pays an annual dividend of $2.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. B&G Foods pays out -24.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. General Mills pays out 46.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. General Mills has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. B&G Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares B&G Foods and General Mills’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
B&G Foods	-12.02%	7.16%	1.34%
General Mills	15.24%	23.46%	6.69%

Risk & Volatility

B&G Foods has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Mills has a beta of -0.04, indicating that its share price is 104% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

66.2% of B&G Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.7% of General Mills shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of B&G Foods shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of General Mills shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares B&G Foods and General Mills”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
B&G Foods	$1.84 billion	0.20	-$251.25 million	($3.16)	-1.47
General Mills	$19.16 billion	1.32	$2.30 billion	$5.29	8.93

General Mills has higher revenue and earnings than B&G Foods. B&G Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than General Mills, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for B&G Foods and General Mills, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
B&G Foods	1	4	0	0	1.80
General Mills	2	13	4	0	2.11

B&G Foods currently has a consensus target price of $4.67, suggesting a potential upside of 0.25%. General Mills has a consensus target price of $55.82, suggesting a potential upside of 18.21%. Given General Mills’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe General Mills is more favorable than B&G Foods.

Summary

General Mills beats B&G Foods on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About B&G Foods

B&G Foods, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of shelf-stable frozen food, and household products in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. It operates through the following segments: Specialty, Meals, Frozen & Vegetables, and Spices & Flavor Solutions. The Specialty segment includes, among others, the Crisco, Clabber Girl, Bear Creek, Polaner, Underwood, B&G, Grandma’s, New York Style, Don Pepino, Sclafani, B&M, Baker’s Joy, Regina, TrueNorth, Static Guard, SugarTwin and Brer Rabbit brands. The Meals segment focuses on the Ortega, Maple Grove Farms, Cream of Wheat, Las Palmas, Victoria, Mama Mary’s, Spring Tree, McCann’s, Carey’s and Vermont Maid brands. The Frozen & Vegetables segment consists of Green Giant and Le Sueur brands. The Spices & Flavor Solutions segment offers Dash, Spice Islands, Weber, Ac’cent, Tone’s, Trappey’s, Durkee and Wright’s brands. Its products include frozen and canned vegetables, hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, and wine vinegar. Its brands include Back to Nature, Bear Creek, Cream of Wheat, Green Giant, Mrs. Dash, and Ortega. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. The company also manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food; and operates ice cream parlors. It markets its products under the Annie’s, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, Dunkaroos, Edgard & Cooper, Fiber One, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto’s, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Häagen-Dazs, Kitano, Kix, Lärabar, Latina, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Nudges, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Progresso, Tastefuls, Total, Totino’s , Trix, True Chews, True Solutions, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, and Yoki brands. The company sells its products to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.