Loop Industries (NASDAQ:LOOP) and Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Head-To-Head Analysis

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) and Loop Industries (NASDAQ:LOOP) are both materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Scotts Miracle-Gro and Loop Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scotts Miracle-Gro	2.19%	-81.90%	8.97%
Loop Industries	N/A	N/A	-122.85%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Scotts Miracle-Gro and Loop Industries”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scotts Miracle-Gro	$3.48 billion	0.85	$145.20 million	$1.15	44.39
Loop Industries	$441,000.00	52.10	-$12.30 million	($0.26)	-1.83

Scotts Miracle-Gro has higher revenue and earnings than Loop Industries. Loop Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Scotts Miracle-Gro, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Scotts Miracle-Gro and Loop Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scotts Miracle-Gro	0	3	3	0	2.50
Loop Industries	0	1	0	0	2.00

Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus target price of $75.40, indicating a potential upside of 47.70%. Given Scotts Miracle-Gro’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Scotts Miracle-Gro is more favorable than Loop Industries.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.1% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.9% of Loop Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.4% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 49.7% of Loop Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Scotts Miracle-Gro has a beta of 1.83, meaning that its stock price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Loop Industries has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Scotts Miracle-Gro beats Loop Industries on 11 of the 14 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 Loop Industries

Loop Industries, Inc., a technology company, focuses on depolymerizing waste polyethylene terephthalate PET plastics and polyester fibers, including plastic bottles, packaging, carpets and textiles of any color, transparency and even ocean plastics that have been degraded by the sun and salt, to its base building blocks. Its polymerized monomers into virgin-quality PET resins for use in food-grade plastic packaging, such as plastic bottles for water and carbonated soft drinks, and containers for food and other consumer products; and polyester fibers, including textiles, clothing, and apparel. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Terrebonne, Canada.