Contrasting Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) & J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF)

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) and J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

36.4% of Lifeway Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.0% of J & J Snack Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.6% of Lifeway Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.4% of J & J Snack Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Lifeway Foods and J & J Snack Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lifeway Foods	0	1	2	1	3.00
J & J Snack Foods	1	1	2	0	2.25

Lifeway Foods currently has a consensus price target of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 48.69%. J & J Snack Foods has a consensus price target of $110.50, indicating a potential upside of 29.75%. Given Lifeway Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Lifeway Foods is more favorable than J & J Snack Foods.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lifeway Foods and J & J Snack Foods”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lifeway Foods	$212.50 million	1.63	$13.86 million	$0.70	32.67
J & J Snack Foods	$1.58 billion	1.01	$65.60 million	$2.60	32.76

J & J Snack Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Lifeway Foods. Lifeway Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than J & J Snack Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lifeway Foods and J & J Snack Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lifeway Foods	4.48%	12.66%	9.29%
J & J Snack Foods	3.23%	8.93%	6.07%

Risk and Volatility

Lifeway Foods has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J & J Snack Foods has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lifeway Foods beats J & J Snack Foods on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lifeway Foods

Lifeway Foods, Inc. produces and markets probiotic-based products in the United States and internationally. Its primary product is drinkable kefir, a cultured dairy product in various organic and non-organic sizes, flavors, and types. The company offers European-style soft cheeses; cream and other products; ProBugs, a line of kefir products designed for children; drinkable yogurt; and fresh made butter and sour cream. It sells its products under the Lifeway, GlenOaks Farms, and Fresh Made brand names, as well as under private labels on behalf of customers primarily through direct sales force, brokers, and distributors. Lifeway Foods, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is based in Morton Grove, Illinois.

About J & J Snack Foods

J&J Snack Foods Corp. engages in the manufacturing of nutritional snack foods and distribution of frozen beverages to the food service and retail supermarket industries. It operates through the following segments: Food Service, Retail Supermarkets, and Frozen Beverages. The Food Service segment includes soft pretzels, frozen novelties, churros, handheld products, and baked goods. The Retail Supermarkets segment offers soft pretzel products including Superpretzel, frozen juice treats and desserts, including Luigi’s real Italian ice, Minute Maid juice bars and soft frozen lemonade, Whole Fruit frozen fruit bars and sorbet, Philly Swirl cups and sticks, ICEE Squeeze-Up Tubes and dough enrobed handheld products including Patio burritos. The Frozen Beverages segment provides frozen beverages to the food service industry primarily under the names ICEE, SLUSH PUPPIE, and PARROT ICE in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, as well as repair and maintenance services. The company was founded by Gerald B. Shreiber in 1971 and is headquartered in Mount Laurel, NJ.