Head to Head Survey: FMC (NYSE:FMC) and Limoneira (NASDAQ:LMNR)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares FMC and Limoneira”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FMC	$3.47 billion	0.53	-$2.24 billion	($17.85)	-0.83
Limoneira	$159.72 million	1.45	-$15.98 million	($1.28)	-9.97

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

Dividends

FMC pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Limoneira pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. FMC pays out -1.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Limoneira pays out -23.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Limoneira is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares FMC and Limoneira’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FMC	-72.93%	10.53%	2.95%
Limoneira	-15.55%	-12.19%	-7.15%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for FMC and Limoneira, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FMC	3	9	2	0	1.93
Limoneira	1	2	2	0	2.20

FMC presently has a consensus price target of $20.46, suggesting a potential upside of 38.08%. Limoneira has a consensus price target of $18.50, suggesting a potential upside of 44.98%. Given Limoneira’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Limoneira is more favorable than FMC.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.9% of FMC shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of Limoneira shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of FMC shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.2% of Limoneira shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

FMC has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Limoneira has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Limoneira beats FMC on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FMC

FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides crop protection, plant health, and professional pest and turf management products. It develops, markets, and sells crop protection chemicals that includes insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and biologicals, crop nutrition, and seed treatment products, which are used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality by controlling a range of insects, weeds, and diseases, as well as in non-agricultural markets for pest control. The company markets its products through its own sales organization and through alliance partners, independent distributors, and sales representatives. It operates in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

About Limoneira

Limoneira Company operates as an agribusiness and real estate development company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three divisions: Agribusiness, Rental Operations, and Real Estate Development. It grows, processes, packs, markets, and sells lemons. The company also grows avocado, oranges, and specialty citrus and other crops, including Moro blood oranges, Cara Cara oranges, Valencia oranges, Minneola tangelos, Star Ruby grapefruit, pummelos, and wine grapes. It has approximately 3,500 acres of lemons planted primarily in Ventura, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, and San Bernardino Counties in California; and Jujuy, Argentina, as well in Yuma County, Arizona, and La Serena, Chile; 1,200 acres of avocados planted in Ventura County; 100 acres of oranges planted in Tulare County, California; and 400 acres of specialty citrus and other crops. In addition, the company rents residential housing units and commercial office buildings, as well as leases approximately 400 acres of its land to third-party agricultural tenants. Further, it is involved in the organic recycling operations; and development of land parcels, multi-family housing, and single-family homes. The company markets and sells its lemons directly to food service, wholesale, and retail customers; avocados, oranges, specialty citrus, and other crops to third-party packinghouses; and wine grapes to wine producers. Limoneira Company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Santa Paula, California.