Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG – Get Free Report) and Limoneira (NASDAQ:LMNR – Get Free Report) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Scotts Miracle-Gro and Limoneira”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Scotts Miracle-Gro | $3.41 billion | 1.05 | $145.20 million | $2.42 | 25.50 |
| Limoneira | $159.72 million | 1.53 | -$15.98 million | ($0.93) | -14.52 |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
74.1% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of Limoneira shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.4% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Limoneira shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Risk & Volatility
Scotts Miracle-Gro has a beta of 1.95, indicating that its stock price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Limoneira has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Scotts Miracle-Gro and Limoneira’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Scotts Miracle-Gro | 4.26% | -67.74% | 7.01% |
| Limoneira | -10.01% | -8.79% | -5.30% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Scotts Miracle-Gro and Limoneira, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Scotts Miracle-Gro | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2.63 |
| Limoneira | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.00 |
Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus price target of $69.50, indicating a potential upside of 12.64%. Limoneira has a consensus price target of $18.50, indicating a potential upside of 37.04%. Given Limoneira’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Limoneira is more favorable than Scotts Miracle-Gro.
Dividends
Scotts Miracle-Gro pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Limoneira pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Scotts Miracle-Gro pays out 109.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Limoneira pays out -32.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Summary
Scotts Miracle-Gro beats Limoneira on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Scotts Miracle-Gro
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, and other durable products, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; and gardening and landscape products, which include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes, garden soils, mulches and ground cover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions. It offers hydroponic products that help users to grow plants, flowers, and vegetables using little or no soil; lighting systems and components for use in hydroponic and indoor gardening applications; insect, rodent, and weed control products for home areas; and non-selective weed killer products. The company sells its products under the Scotts, Turf Builder, EZ Seed, PatchMaster, Thick'R Lawn, GrubEx, EdgeGuard, Handy Green II, Miracle-Gro, LiquaFeed, Shake N Feed, Hyponex, Earthgro, Nature Scapes, Ortho, Miracle-Gro Performance Organics, Miracle-Gro Organic Choice, Whitney Farms, EcoScraps, Mother Earth, Botanicare, General Hydroponics, Cyco, Gavita, Agrolux, HydroLogic Purification System, Gro Pro, AeroGarden, Titan, Tomcat, Ortho Weed B Gon, Roundup, Groundclear, and Alchemist brands. It serves home centers, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, large hardware chains, independent hardware stores, nurseries, garden centers, e-commerce platforms, and food and drug stores, as well as indoor gardening and hydroponic distributors, retailers, and growers. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Marysville, Ohio.
About Limoneira
Limoneira Company operates as an agribusiness and real estate development company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three divisions: Agribusiness, Rental Operations, and Real Estate Development. It grows, processes, packs, markets, and sells lemons. The company also grows avocado, oranges, and specialty citrus and other crops, including Moro blood oranges, Cara Cara oranges, Valencia oranges, Minneola tangelos, Star Ruby grapefruit, pummelos, and wine grapes. It has approximately 3,500 acres of lemons planted primarily in Ventura, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, and San Bernardino Counties in California; and Jujuy, Argentina, as well in Yuma County, Arizona, and La Serena, Chile; 1,200 acres of avocados planted in Ventura County; 100 acres of oranges planted in Tulare County, California; and 400 acres of specialty citrus and other crops. In addition, the company rents residential housing units and commercial office buildings, as well as leases approximately 400 acres of its land to third-party agricultural tenants. Further, it is involved in the organic recycling operations; and development of land parcels, multi-family housing, and single-family homes. The company markets and sells its lemons directly to food service, wholesale, and retail customers; avocados, oranges, specialty citrus, and other crops to third-party packinghouses; and wine grapes to wine producers. Limoneira Company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Santa Paula, California.
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