Critical Review: National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD)

National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

National Beverage has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for National Beverage and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Beverage	2	0	0	0	1.00
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV	0	5	12	0	2.71

National Beverage presently has a consensus price target of $31.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.69%. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has a consensus price target of $91.08, suggesting a potential upside of 22.56%. Given Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is more favorable than National Beverage.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares National Beverage and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Beverage	$1.18 billion	2.35	$183.65 million	$1.86	15.92
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV	$59.32 billion	2.53	$6.84 billion	$4.72	15.74

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has higher revenue and earnings than National Beverage. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Beverage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares National Beverage and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Beverage	14.81%	32.61%	23.51%
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV	14.90%	16.42%	7.47%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

23.9% of National Beverage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.5% of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV shares are held by institutional investors. 74.7% of National Beverage shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV beats National Beverage on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV produces, distributes, exports, markets, and sells beer and beverages. It offers a portfolio of approximately 500 beer brands, which primarily include Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois; Beck's, Hoegaarden, Leffe, and Michelob Ultra; and Aguila, Antarctica, Bud Light, Brahma, Cass, Castle, Castle Lite, Cristal, Harbin, Jupiler, Modelo Especial, Quilmes, Victoria, Sedrin, and Skol brands. The company operates in North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1366 and is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium.