Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY) & 22nd Century Group (NASDAQ:XXII) Critical Contrast

Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY) and 22nd Century Group (NASDAQ:XXII) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Tob and 22nd Century Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Tob	14.55%	11.97%	6.14%
22nd Century Group	-80.22%	-344.13%	-62.82%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Japan Tob and 22nd Century Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Japan Tob	0	0	0	1	4.00
22nd Century Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Volatility & Risk

Japan Tob has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, 22nd Century Group has a beta of 1.95, suggesting that its stock price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.1% of 22nd Century Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of 22nd Century Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Japan Tob and 22nd Century Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Tob	$20.83 billion	2.71	$3.06 billion	$0.91	17.47
22nd Century Group	$24.38 million	0.24	-$15.16 million	($2,986.49)	0.00

Japan Tob has higher revenue and earnings than 22nd Century Group. 22nd Century Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Japan Tob, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Japan Tob beats 22nd Century Group on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Japan Tob

Japan Tobacco Inc., a tobacco company, manufactures and sells tobacco products, pharmaceuticals, and processed foods in Japan and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Tobacco Business, Pharmaceutical, and Processed Food. It offers tobacco products, such as cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco products, E-vapor products, fine cut tobacco products, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco products, and hookah and kretek products. The company also provides reduced-risk products, including infused tobacco capsules and heated tobacco sticks. In addition, it researches and develops, manufactures, and sells prescription drugs for the therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, kidney and metabolism, immunity/inflammation, and central nervous system. Further, the company provides frozen and room-temperature products, such as frozen udon noodles, packed rice, and frozen okonomiyaki; bakery products; and seasonings, including yeast extracts, assembled, kelp and bonito extracts, and oyster sauces. It offers its products under the Winston, Camel, MEVIUS, and LD brands. Japan Tobacco Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About 22nd Century Group

22nd Century Group, Inc., a tobacco products company, engages in the sale and distribution of its own proprietary new reduced nicotine tobacco products. The company offers reduced nicotine content tobacco plants and very low nicotine combustible cigarette products. It also provides contract manufacturing services for conventional combustible tobacco products for third-party brands. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Mocksville, North Carolina.