Critical Contrast: BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) & SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL)

BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) and SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

BellRing Brands has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SunOpta has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BellRing Brands and SunOpta”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BellRing Brands	$2.32 billion	0.87	$216.20 million	$1.45	11.87
SunOpta	$817.72 million	0.94	$15.77 million	N/A	N/A

BellRing Brands has higher revenue and earnings than SunOpta.

Profitability

This table compares BellRing Brands and SunOpta’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BellRing Brands	7.88%	-64.79%	25.12%
SunOpta	1.93%	13.31%	3.10%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.0% of BellRing Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.4% of SunOpta shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of BellRing Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of SunOpta shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for BellRing Brands and SunOpta, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BellRing Brands	1	6	12	0	2.58
SunOpta	1	2	2	0	2.20

BellRing Brands currently has a consensus target price of $37.25, indicating a potential upside of 116.34%. SunOpta has a consensus target price of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.08%. Given BellRing Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe BellRing Brands is more favorable than SunOpta.

Summary

BellRing Brands beats SunOpta on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BellRing Brands

BellRing Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides various nutrition products in the United States. The company offers ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands. It distributes its products through club, food, drug, mass, eCommerce, specialty, and convenience channels. BellRing Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

About SunOpta

SunOpta Inc. engages in manufacture and sale of plant-based and fruit-based food and beverage products in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company provides plant-based beverages utilizing oat, almond, soy, coconut, rice, hemp, and other bases under the Dream and West Life brands; oat-based creamers under the SOWN brand; ready-to-drink protein shakes; and nut, grain, seed, and legume based beverages; packaged teas and concentrates; and meat and vegetable broths and stocks. It also offers plant-based ingredients, such as oatbase, oatgold, soybase, hempbase, and soypowders and okara; ready-to-eat fruit snacks made from apple purée and juice concentrate in bar, bit, twist, strip and sandwich formats; cold pressed fruit bars; liquid and powder ingredients utilizing oat, soy and hemp bases; ready-to-eat fruit smoothie and chia bowls topped with frozen fruit; consumer products, which includes protein shakes, teas, broths, and fruit snacks; and liquid and dry ingredients for internal use and for sale to other food and beverage manufacturers. It sells its products through various distribution channels including private label products to retail customers; branded products under co-manufacturing agreements to other branded food companies for their distribution; and its own branded products to retail and foodservice customers. The company was formerly known as Stake Technology Ltd. and changed its name to SunOpta Inc. in October 2003. SunOpta Inc. was incorporated in 1973 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.