Danone (OTCMKTS:DANOY) & Medifast (NYSE:MED) Head to Head Contrast

Medifast (NYSE:MED) and Danone (OTCMKTS:DANOY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Medifast and Danone’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medifast	0.06%	-0.89%	-0.69%
Danone	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Medifast and Danone”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medifast	$602.46 million	0.22	$2.09 million	$0.01	1,183.40
Danone	$29.63 billion	2.01	$2.19 billion	N/A	N/A

Danone has higher revenue and earnings than Medifast.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.5% of Medifast shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Danone shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Medifast shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Danone shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Medifast and Danone, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medifast	1	1	0	0	1.50
Danone	1	2	2	0	2.20

Medifast presently has a consensus target price of $16.50, indicating a potential upside of 39.43%. Given Medifast’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Medifast is more favorable than Danone.

Volatility and Risk

Medifast has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Danone has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Danone beats Medifast on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Medifast

Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of weight loss, weight management, and healthy living products in the United States and the Asia-Pacific. It offers bars, puffs, cereal, crunchers, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serve, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes, and soups under the OPTAVIA, OPTAVIA ACTIVE, and Optimal Health brand names. The company markets its products through point-of-sale transactions, as well as through ecommerce platform. Medifast, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

About Danone

Danone S.A. operates in the food and beverage industry in Europe, Ukraine, North America, China, North Asia, the Oceania, Latin America, rest of Asia, Africa, Turkey, the Middle East, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The company operates through Essential Dairy & Plant-Based, Specialized Nutrition, and Waters segments. It produces and distributes yogurts, dairy products, coffee creamers and drinks, beverages, plant-based products, ice creams, frozen desserts, and cheese products under the Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette, Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, Danone, Light & Fit, Oikos, YoPRO, International Delight, SToK, Silk, Follow Your Heart, and So Delicious. The company also provides specialized nutrition, including formulas and complementary feeding for babies and young children; and special medical purposes food for children and adults under the Aptamil, Nutrilon, Gallia, Cow & Gate, Bebelac, and Blédina brands. In addition, it offers tube feeding products under the Nutrison name; and oral nutritional supplements under the Fortimel and NutriDrink names. Further, the company provides mineral waters from natural sources, waters infused with natural fruit extracts, fruit juices, and vitamins under the evian, Volvic, AQUA, Mizone, Bonafont, Salus, Hayat, Sirma, Font Vella, Lanjarón, and Zywiec Zdroj brands. It distributes its products through retail chains and traditional market outlets; convenience stores; hotels, restaurants, and coffee outlets; hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies; and e-commerce channels. The company was formerly known as Groupe Danone and changed its name to Danone S.A. in April 2009. Danone S.A. was incorporated in 1899 and is headquartered in Paris, France.