Critical Review: Greencore Group (OTCMKTS:GNCGY) & TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS)

Greencore Group (OTCMKTS:GNCGY) and TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Greencore Group and TreeHouse Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Greencore Group	0	0	0	1	4.00
TreeHouse Foods	1	8	0	0	1.89

TreeHouse Foods has a consensus price target of $24.67, indicating a potential upside of 0.97%. Given TreeHouse Foods’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe TreeHouse Foods is more favorable than Greencore Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.8% of TreeHouse Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of TreeHouse Foods shares are held 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.

Volatility and Risk

Greencore Group has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TreeHouse Foods has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Greencore Group and TreeHouse Foods”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Greencore Group	$2.54 billion	1.03	$75.23 million	N/A	N/A
TreeHouse Foods	$3.35 billion	0.37	$26.90 million	($4.80)	-5.09

Greencore Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than TreeHouse Foods.

Profitability

This table compares Greencore Group and TreeHouse Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Greencore Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
TreeHouse Foods	-7.25%	5.52%	2.06%

About Greencore Group

Greencore Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells convenience food products in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company offers sandwiches, salads, sushi, chilled snacking, chilled ready meals, chilled soups and sauces, chilled quiche, ambient sauces and pickles, and frozen Yorkshire Puddings. It is also involved in the finance activities; pension funding; and property business. The company supplies its products to supermarkets, convenience and travel retail outlets, discounters, coffee shops, foodservice, and other retailers. Greencore Group plc was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

About TreeHouse Foods

TreeHouse Foods, Inc. manufactures and distributes private brands snacks and beverages in the United States and internationally. The company provides snacking products, such as crackers, pretzels, in-store bakery items, frozen griddle items, cookies, and candies; and beverage and drink mixes, including non-dairy creamer, coffee, broths/stocks, powdered beverages and other blends, tea, and ready-to-drink-beverages. It also offers groceries comprising pickles, refrigerated dough, hot cereal, and cheese and puddings, as well as natural, organic, and gluten-free products. The company sells its products through various distribution channels, including retailers, foodservice distributors, food-away-from-home customers, refrigerated and frozen formats, and co-manufacturers, as well as industrial and export, which includes food manufacturers and repackagers of foodservice products. TreeHouse Foods, Inc. was founded in 1862 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.