Critical Survey: Australian Oilseeds (NASDAQ:COOT) vs. Post (NYSE:POST)

Australian Oilseeds (NASDAQ:COOT) and Post (NYSE:POST) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Australian Oilseeds and Post’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Australian Oilseeds	N/A	N/A	N/A
Post	3.48%	13.22%	3.42%

Risk and Volatility

Australian Oilseeds has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Post has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

13.0% of Australian Oilseeds shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Post shares are owned by institutional investors. 69.1% of Australian Oilseeds shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of Post shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Australian Oilseeds and Post, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Australian Oilseeds	1	0	0	0	1.00
Post	2	2	5	0	2.33

Post has a consensus price target of $103.43, suggesting a potential upside of 27.53%. Given Post’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Post is more favorable than Australian Oilseeds.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Australian Oilseeds and Post”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Australian Oilseeds	$690,000.00	20.14	-$12.91 million	($0.04)	-7.11
Post	$8.41 billion	0.44	$335.70 million	$5.44	14.91

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

Summary

Post beats Australian Oilseeds on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Australian Oilseeds

Australian Oilseeds is an Australian oilseed processor focused on canola. Its business includes processing oilseeds into canola oil and canola meal, products used in food and animal-feed applications. The company’s operations are based in Australia, where it sources oilseeds from growers and serves customers in domestic and export markets.

About Post

Post Holdings, Inc. is a consumer packaged goods company whose businesses make and sell food and related products. Its portfolio includes breakfast cereals and other grain-based foods, refrigerated products, foodservice ingredients, and pet food. Through Post Consumer Brands, the company offers ready-to-eat and hot cereals, including brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Grape-Nuts, and Malt-O-Meal. Other businesses include Michael Foods, which supplies eggs and other refrigerated foods, and Weetabix, a cereal company with brands sold in the United Kingdom and other markets.