Head-To-Head Survey: Marine Harvest ASA (OTCMKTS:MHGVY) and Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA)

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) and Marine Harvest ASA (OTCMKTS:MHGVY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Seneca Foods and Marine Harvest ASA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seneca Foods	6.75%	14.96%	8.56%
Marine Harvest ASA	11.19%	11.74%	5.29%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Seneca Foods and Marine Harvest ASA”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seneca Foods	$1.77 billion	0.67	$114.67 million	$17.31	10.17
Marine Harvest ASA	$6.47 billion	1.78	$708.93 million	$1.42	15.38

Marine Harvest ASA has higher revenue and earnings than Seneca Foods. Seneca Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marine Harvest ASA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Seneca Foods has a beta of -0.03, indicating that its share price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marine Harvest ASA has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Seneca Foods and Marine Harvest ASA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seneca Foods	0	1	0	1	3.00
Marine Harvest ASA	0	3	0	2	2.80

Institutional & Insider Ownership

42.5% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of Seneca Foods shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Marine Harvest ASA beats Seneca Foods on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seneca Foods

Seneca Foods Corporation provides packaged fruits and vegetables in the United States and internationally. The company offers canned, frozen, and jarred produce; jarred fruit; and snack chips and other food products under the private label, as well as under various national and regional brands that the company owns or licenses, including Seneca, Libby’s, Aunt Nellie’s, Cherryman, Green Valley, and READ. In addition, it packs canned and frozen vegetables under contract packing agreements. Further, the company engages in the sale of cans, ends, and seeds, as well as trucking and aircraft operations. It provides its products to grocery outlets, including supermarkets, mass merchandisers, limited assortment stores, club stores, and dollar stores; specialty retailers; and food service distributors, restaurant chains, industrial markets, other food packagers, and export customers in approximately 55 countries, as well as federal, state, and local governments for school and other feeding programs. Seneca Foods Corporation was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in Fairport, New York.

About Marine Harvest ASA

Mowi ASA, a seafood company, farms, produces, and supplies Atlantic salmon products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Feed, Farming, and Sales and Marketing. The company is involved in the salmon feed production, salmon farming and primary processing, and seafood secondary processing activities. It offers whole fish, plain and marinated fillets and steaks, hot- and cold-smoked salmon, burgers and tartars, patties, gravad, sushi, and breaded products under the Ducktrap, MOWI, and Supreme Salmon brands. The company was formerly known as Marine Harvest ASA and changed its name to Mowi ASA in December 2018. Mowi ASA was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Bergen, Norway.