Head to Head Comparison: Cadiz (NASDAQ:CDZI) and Dole (NYSE:DOLE)

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) and Cadiz (NASDAQ:CDZI) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Dole and Cadiz, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dole	0	2	0	0	2.00
Cadiz	1	1	1	0	2.00

Dole currently has a consensus price target of $16.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.74%. Cadiz has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 86.92%. Given Cadiz’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cadiz is more favorable than Dole.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dole and Cadiz”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dole	$8.97 billion	0.16	$125.51 million	$0.15	101.84
Cadiz	$9.61 million	46.27	-$31.14 million	($0.49)	-10.92

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

Volatility & Risk

Dole has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cadiz has a beta of 2.02, indicating that its share price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.8% of Cadiz shares are held by institutional investors. 41.8% of Dole shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Cadiz shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dole	0.17%	7.98%	2.56%
Cadiz	-206.65%	-93.48%	-24.26%

Summary

Dole beats Cadiz on 8 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 Cadiz

Cadiz Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides water solutions in the United States. The company operates through Land and Water Resources; and Water Filtration Technology segments. It offers water supply, water storage, water conveyance, and water filtration services. In addition, the company is involved in the cultivation of grain crops and alfalfa, as well as provides water filtration solutions for impaired or contaminated groundwater sources. It serves public water systems, government agencies, and other clients. Cadiz Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Los Angeles, California.