Critical Contrast: Ceconomy (OTCMKTS:MTAGF) vs. Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE)

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) and Ceconomy (OTCMKTS:MTAGF) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Andersons and Ceconomy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Andersons	0	1	3	1	3.00
Ceconomy	0	0	0	0	0.00

Andersons currently has a consensus price target of $95.00, indicating a potential upside of 45.84%. Given Andersons’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Andersons is more favorable than Ceconomy.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.1% of Andersons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Ceconomy shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Andersons shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Andersons	$11.01 billion	0.20	$95.71 million	$5.18	12.58
Ceconomy	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.39	14.28

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

Profitability

This table compares Andersons and Ceconomy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Andersons	1.62%	16.23%	5.84%
Ceconomy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Andersons beats Ceconomy on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc. operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company’s Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil. This segment also engages in the commodity merchandising business, as well as offers logistics for physical commodities, such as whole grains, grain products, feed ingredients, domestic fuel products, and other agricultural commodities. Its Renewables segment produces, purchases, and sells ethanol, and co-products, as well as offers facility operations, risk management, and marketing services to the ethanol plants it invests in and operates. The company’s Nutrient & Industrial segment manufactures, distributes, and retails agricultural and related plant nutrients, liquid industrial products, corncob-based products, and pelleted lime and gypsum products, as well as turf fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide products; and crop nutrients, crop protection chemicals, and seed products, as well as provides application and agronomic services to commercial and family farmers. In addition, this segment produces corncob-based products for laboratory animal bedding and private-label cat litter, as well as absorbents, blast cleaners, carriers, and polishers; professional lawn care products for golf course and turf care markets; fertilizer and weed, and pest control products; dry and liquid agricultural nutrients, pelleted lime, gypsum, and soil amendments; and micronutrients, as well as industrial products comprising nitrogen reagents, calcium nitrate, deicers, and dust abatement products. The Andersons, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in Maumee, Ohio.

About Ceconomy

Ceconomy AG, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the consumer electronics retail business. It operates stores under the MediaMarkt and Saturn brands. The company offers professional assistance for the installation, connection, and troubleshooting of electronic devices at home under the Deutsche Technikberatung brand. It operates in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Hungary, as well as in Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe. Ceconomy AG is based in Düsseldorf, Germany.