Critical Analysis: Innovative Food (OTCMKTS:IVFH) versus Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE)

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) and Innovative Food (OTCMKTS:IVFH) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Andersons	0.89%	7.93%	3.27%
Innovative Food	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.1% of Andersons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.7% of Innovative Food shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of Andersons shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of Innovative Food shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Andersons and Innovative Food’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Andersons	$12.36 billion	0.13	$101.19 million	$3.54	13.23
Innovative Food	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.14)	-9.82

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Andersons and Innovative Food, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Andersons	0	0	1	0	3.00
Innovative Food	0	0	0	0	N/A

Andersons currently has a consensus target price of $65.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.92%. Given Andersons’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Andersons is more favorable than Innovative Food.

Summary

Andersons beats Innovative Food on 9 of the 10 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 Innovative Food

Innovative Food Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and food related products to restaurants, hotels, country clubs, national chain accounts, casinos, hospitals, and catering houses in the United States. The company distributes perishable and specialty food and food related products, including origin-specific seafood, domestic and imported meats, exotic game and poultry, artisanal cheeses, freshly prepared meals, caviar, wild and cultivated mushrooms, micro-greens, organic farmed and manufactured food products, estate-bottled olive oils and aged vinegars, and curated food gift baskets and gift boxes, as well as a full range of food subscription based offerings. It also provides a line of specialty healthcare related products; and customer service and logistics services. In addition, the company offers its products through business to business and other e-commerce channels, as well as websites comprising www.igourmet.com and www.mouth.com; and directly from its network of vendors and warehouses. Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. is based in Bonita Springs, Florida.