Comparing Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO) and Ingredion (NYSE:INGR)

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) and Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Dividends

Ingredion pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Alico pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Ingredion pays out 35.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alico pays out 90.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ingredion has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Ingredion is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ingredion and Alico”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ingredion	$7.22 billion	0.86	$729.00 million	$9.17	10.75
Alico	$44.07 million	6.63	-$147.33 million	$0.22	179.09

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.3% of Ingredion shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.3% of Alico shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Ingredion shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Alico shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Ingredion and Alico’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ingredion	8.21%	15.40%	8.48%
Alico	8.98%	-20.77%	-11.09%

Volatility and Risk

Ingredion has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alico has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Ingredion and Alico, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ingredion	0	8	1	0	2.11
Alico	0	1	1	1	3.00

Ingredion presently has a consensus target price of $121.29, suggesting a potential upside of 22.99%. Alico has a consensus target price of $45.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.21%. Given Ingredion’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ingredion is more favorable than Alico.

Summary

Ingredion beats Alico on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ingredion

Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients, and biomaterial solutions derived from wet milling and processing corn, and other starch-based materials to a range of industries in North America, South America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers starch products for use in a range of processed foods; cornstarch; specialty paper starches for enhanced drainage, fiber retention, oil and grease resistance, improved printability, and biochemical oxygen demand control; starches and specialty starches for textile industry; industrial starches are used in the production of construction materials, textiles, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, as well as in mining and water filtration; and specialty industrial starches for use in biomaterial applications, including biodegradable plastics, fabric softeners and detergents, hair and skin care applications, dusting powders for surgical gloves, and in the production of glass fiber and insulation. It also provides sweetener products comprising glucose syrups, high maltose syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrin, glucose syrup solids, and non-genetically modified organism syrups for applications in food and beverage products, such as baked goods, snack foods, canned fruits, condiments, candy and other sweets, dairy products, ice cream, jams and jellies, prepared mixes, table syrups, and beverages. In addition, the company sells refined corn oil, corn gluten feed, and corn gluten meal; and other products, including fruit and vegetable products, such as concentrates, purees, and essences, as well as pulse proteins and hydrocolloids systems and blends. The company was formerly known as Corn Products International, Inc. and changed its name to Ingredion Incorporated in June 2012. Ingredion Incorporated was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Westchester, Illinois.

About Alico

Alico, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an agribusiness and land management company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Alico Citrus, and Land Management and Other Operations. The Alico Citrus segment engages in planting, owning, cultivating, and/or managing citrus groves to produce fruit for sale to fresh and processed citrus markets, including activities related to the purchase and resale of fruit and value-added services, which include contracting for the harvesting, marketing, and hauling of citrus. The Land Management and Other Operations segment is involved in the activities related to native plant sales, grazing and hunting leasing, management, and/or conservation of unimproved native pastureland; and activities related to rock mining royalties and other insignificant lines of business, as well as in the activities related to owning and/or leasing improved farmland. The company was incorporated in 1960 and is based in Fort Myers, Florida.