Edible Garden (NASDAQ:EDBL) and Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Critical Contrast

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) and Edible Garden (NASDAQ:EDBL) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Dole and Edible Garden’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dole	0.56%	7.81%	2.55%
Edible Garden	-135.30%	-1,078.80%	-97.54%

Volatility & Risk

Dole has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Edible Garden has a beta of 2.4, meaning that its stock price is 140% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Dole and Edible Garden, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dole	0	3	0	0	2.00
Edible Garden	1	0	0	0	1.00

Dole presently has a consensus target price of $15.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.95%. Given Dole’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Dole is more favorable than Edible Garden.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.0% of Edible Garden shares are held by institutional investors. 41.8% of Dole shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Edible Garden 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Dole and Edible Garden”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dole	$9.17 billion	0.16	$51.32 million	$0.53	28.69
Edible Garden	$12.81 million	0.07	-$17.33 million	($129.11)	-0.01

Dole has higher revenue and earnings than Edible Garden. Edible Garden is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dole, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Dole beats Edible Garden on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dole

Dole Food Company, Inc. (Dole) is a producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. The Company is a producer of bananas and pineapples, and packaged fruit products, packaged salads and fresh-packed vegetables. The Company has three business segments: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged foods. The fresh fruit segment contains operating divisions that produce and market fresh fruit to wholesale, retail and institutional customers worldwide. The fresh vegetables segment produces and markets fresh-packed and value-added vegetables and salads to wholesale, retail and institutional customers, primarily in North America and Europe. The packaged foods segment contains several operating divisions that produce and market packaged foods, including fruit, juices, frozen fruit and healthy snack foods. In November 2013, Dole Food Company, Inc announced that an investor group acquired the remaining 60.43% interest in the Company.

About Edible Garden

Edible Garden AG Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, operate as a controlled environment agriculture farming company. It offers various packaged products, including cilantro, rosemary, mint, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, chives, poultry mix, sage, dill, buttercrunch living lettuce, basil, living butterhead lettuce, basil, parsley, arugula spring mix, baby arugula blend, baby romaine, and crisp ranch and Caesar salad kits. The company sells its products to various regional and national supermarkets. Edible Garden AG Incorporated was founded in 2020 and is based in Belvidere, New Jersey.