Critical Contrast: Hydrofarm Holdings Group (HYFM) and Its Rivals

Hydrofarm Holdings Group (NASDAQ:HYFM) is one of 435 public companies in the “Machinery” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Hydrofarm Holdings Group to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hydrofarm Holdings Group and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	$134.25 million	-$289.79 million	-0.02
Hydrofarm Holdings Group Competitors	$4.52 billion	$347.86 million	-13.01

Hydrofarm Holdings Group’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Hydrofarm Holdings Group. Hydrofarm Holdings Group is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

26.6% of Hydrofarm Holdings Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.2% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are owned by institutional investors. 14.9% of Hydrofarm Holdings Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Hydrofarm Holdings Group and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	-267.20%	-2,310.27%	-139.28%
Hydrofarm Holdings Group Competitors	-1,948.01%	-20.82%	1.05%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Hydrofarm Holdings Group and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
Hydrofarm Holdings Group Competitors	4062	14438	17851	776	2.41

As a group, “Machinery” companies have a potential upside of 30.97%. Given Hydrofarm Holdings Group’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hydrofarm Holdings Group has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Risk & Volatility

Hydrofarm Holdings Group has a beta of 2.35, meaning that its stock price is 135% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hydrofarm Holdings Group’s peers have a beta of 4.52, meaning that their average stock price is 352% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hydrofarm Holdings Group peers beat Hydrofarm Holdings Group on 10 of the 13 factors compared.

About Hydrofarm Holdings Group

Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes controlled environment agriculture (CEA) equipment and supplies in the United States and Canada. The company provides agricultural lighting devices, indoor climate control equipment, and nutrients, as well as plant additives used to grow, farm, and cultivate cannabis, flowers, fruits, plants, vegetables, grains, and herbs in controlled environment. It is also involved in the distribution of CEA equipment and supplies comprising nutrients and fertilizers; grow light systems; horticulture benches and racking systems; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems; humidity and carbon dioxide monitors and controllers; water pumps, heaters, chillers, and filters; and various growing media typically made from soil, peat, rock wool or coconut fiber, and others. The company offers its products to specialty hydroponic retailers, commercial resellers and greenhouse builders, garden centers, hardware stores, and e-commerce retailers under the Active Air, Active Aqua, Aurora Peat Products, HEAVY 16, House & Garden, Gaia Green, Grotek, Innovative Growers Equipment, Mad Farmer, Phantom, PHOTOBIO, Procision, Roots Organics, Soul, and SunBlaster brands. It serves its products through a range of commercial and home gardening equipment and supplies retailers. Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. was founded in 1977 and is based in Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania.