Dole (NYSE:DOLE – Get Free Report) and Lendway (NASDAQ:TULP – Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.
Risk and Volatility
Dole has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lendway has a beta of 2.63, suggesting that its share price is 163% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Dole and Lendway, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Dole | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Lendway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
6.6% of Lendway shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.8% of Dole shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.4% of Lendway shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Dole and Lendway”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Dole | $9.49 billion | 0.13 | $51.32 million | $0.62 | 21.00 |
| Lendway | $5.15 million | 3.25 | -$2.85 million | ($2.75) | -1.28 |
Dole has higher revenue and earnings than Lendway. Lendway is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dole, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Dole and Lendway’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Dole | 0.63% | 7.06% | 2.33% |
| Lendway | -9.79% | -42.76% | -4.77% |
Summary
Dole beats Lendway on 10 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 Lendway
Insignia Systems, Inc. provides in-store advertising solutions to consumer-packaged goods manufacturers, retailers, shopper marketing agencies, and brokerages in the United States. It offers in-store signage solutions, which provides point-of-purchase services; merchandising solutions that include various corrugate displays, side caps, free standing shippers, and customized end-cap solutions; and on-pack solutions, which include BoxTalk, coupons, recipes, and cross-promotions. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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