Fresh Del Monte Produce (FDP) and Its Competitors Critical Comparison

Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) is one of 328 publicly-traded companies in the “Food Products” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Fresh Del Monte Produce to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

64.8% of Fresh Del Monte Produce shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.0% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are held by institutional investors. 30.6% of Fresh Del Monte Produce shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.0% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fresh Del Monte Produce and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fresh Del Monte Produce	$4.27 billion	$90.70 million	19.25
Fresh Del Monte Produce Competitors	$15.47 billion	$703.44 million	-2,412.57

Fresh Del Monte Produce’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Fresh Del Monte Produce. Fresh Del Monte Produce is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Fresh Del Monte Produce and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fresh Del Monte Produce	1.63%	7.61%	4.89%
Fresh Del Monte Produce Competitors	-12.87%	-127.95%	-2.08%

Volatility and Risk

Fresh Del Monte Produce has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fresh Del Monte Produce’s competitors have a beta of -3.84, indicating that their average share price is 484% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Fresh Del Monte Produce and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fresh Del Monte Produce	0	1	0	0	2.00
Fresh Del Monte Produce Competitors	2454	8305	8384	405	2.34

As a group, “Food Products” companies have a potential upside of 16.32%. Given Fresh Del Monte Produce’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Fresh Del Monte Produce has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Fresh Del Monte Produce pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Fresh Del Monte Produce pays out 82.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Food Products” companies pay a dividend yield of 12.3% and pay out 29.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Fresh Del Monte Produce has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Fresh Del Monte Produce lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Fresh Del Monte Produce competitors beat Fresh Del Monte Produce on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Fresh Del Monte Produce

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. is a global producer, marketer and distributor of fresh and prepared food products. Its business spans cultivation and sourcing, processing, packaging, transportation and sales to retailers, wholesalers and food-service customers. The company’s products include bananas, pineapples, melons, avocados, berries and other fresh fruit, as well as fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, prepared foods and juices. It also markets products under the Del Monte and other brands. Fresh Del Monte serves customers across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.