Analyzing General Mills (NYSE:GIS) & Armanino Foods of Distinction (OTCMKTS:AMNF)

Armanino Foods of Distinction (OTCMKTS:AMNF) and General Mills (NYSE:GIS) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Armanino Foods of Distinction and General Mills, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Armanino Foods of Distinction	0	0	1	0	3.00
General Mills	3	13	5	0	2.10

Armanino Foods of Distinction currently has a consensus price target of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 26.37%. General Mills has a consensus price target of $53.33, indicating a potential upside of 19.45%. Given Armanino Foods of Distinction’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Armanino Foods of Distinction is more favorable than General Mills.

Dividends

Armanino Foods of Distinction pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. General Mills pays an annual dividend of $2.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Armanino Foods of Distinction pays out 36.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. General Mills pays out 52.5% 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. General Mills is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Armanino Foods of Distinction and General Mills”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Armanino Foods of Distinction	$69.40 million	5.32	$14.61 million	$0.55	21.58
General Mills	$19.49 billion	1.22	$2.30 billion	$4.65	9.60

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

Profitability

This table compares Armanino Foods of Distinction and General Mills’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Armanino Foods of Distinction	23.65%	48.19%	33.53%
General Mills	13.51%	21.41%	6.12%

Risk & Volatility

Armanino Foods of Distinction has a beta of 0.1, suggesting that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Mills has a beta of -0.06, suggesting that its share price is 106% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Armanino Foods of Distinction shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.7% of General Mills shares are held by institutional investors. 30.2% of Armanino Foods of Distinction shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of General Mills shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Armanino Foods of Distinction beats General Mills on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Armanino Foods of Distinction

Armanino Foods of Distinction, Inc. produces and markets frozen food products in the United States. The company offers gourmet beef, Italian style beef and pork, and smoked turkey meatballs; grated parmesan and 3 cheese blend cheese; and various pesto, such as basil, artichoke, cilantro, dried tomato and garlic, roasted garlic, roasted red bell pepper, and southwest chipotle. It also provides frozen pasta, which includes beef cannelloni, cheese manicotti, cheese stuffed shells, cheese tortellini; pasta sheets, potato gnocchi, and tricolor cheese tortellini, as well as beef, butternut squash, four cheese, cheese and spinach, and wild mushroom ravioli; and various sauces, comprising creamy garlic, alfresco, Bolognese, chimichurri, harissa, and romesco. The company offers its products under the Armanino brand. It markets its products through a network of food brokers and sells to retail and foodservice distributors, club-type stores, and industrial accounts. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Hayward, California.

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.