Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM – Get Free Report) and National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ – Get Free Report) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.
Risk & Volatility
Boston Beer has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Beverage has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Boston Beer and National Beverage, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Boston Beer | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1.83 |
| National Beverage | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Boston Beer and National Beverage”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Boston Beer | $1.93 billion | 0.95 | $108.47 million | ($6.79) | -25.84 |
| National Beverage | $1.18 billion | 2.54 | $183.65 million | $1.96 | 16.37 |
National Beverage has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Boston Beer. Boston Beer is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Beverage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
81.1% of Boston Beer shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.9% of National Beverage shares are held by institutional investors. 27.4% of Boston Beer shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 74.7% of National Beverage shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Boston Beer and National Beverage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Boston Beer | -3.42% | 9.99% | 6.48% |
| National Beverage | 15.56% | 32.20% | 23.46% |
Summary
National Beverage beats Boston Beer on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Boston Beer
The Boston Beer Company, Inc produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, and Coney Island brand names. The company markets and sells its products to a network wholesaler in the United States, as well as wholesalers, importers, or other agencies that in turn sell to retailers, such as grocery stores, club stores, convenience stores, liquor stores, bars, restaurants, stadiums, and other e-commerce retail outlets. It sells its products in Canada, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, Mexico, and Central and South America. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
About National Beverage
National Beverage Corp., through its subsidiaries, develops, produces, markets, and sells a portfolio of sparkling waters, juices, energy drinks, and carbonated soft drinks primarily in the United States and Canada. The company's Power+ brand portfolio offers sparkling water products under the LaCroix, LaCroix Cúrate, and LaCroix NiCola; non-carbonated flavored water under the Clear Fruit; energy drink and shots under the Rip It; juice and juice-based products under Everfresh, Everfresh Premier Varietals, and Mr. Pure; and carbonated soft drinks under Shasta and Faygo brands. It serves retailers, as well as various smaller up-and-down-the-street accounts through the take-home, convenience, and food-service distribution channels. National Beverage Corp. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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