Critical Survey: Lavoro (NASDAQ:LVRO) and Bioceres Crop Solutions (NASDAQ:BIOX)

Bioceres Crop Solutions (NASDAQ:BIOX) and Lavoro (NASDAQ:LVRO) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, risk and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.7% of Bioceres Crop Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.5% of Lavoro shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Bioceres Crop Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Bioceres Crop Solutions and Lavoro’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bioceres Crop Solutions	-82.83%	-22.43%	-8.13%
Lavoro	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bioceres Crop Solutions and Lavoro”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bioceres Crop Solutions	$333.30 million	0.10	-$55.42 million	($3.72)	-0.15
Lavoro	$6.52 billion	0.01	-$466.28 million	($1.57)	-0.19

Bioceres Crop Solutions has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Lavoro. Lavoro is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bioceres Crop Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Bioceres Crop Solutions and Lavoro, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bioceres Crop Solutions	1	2	1	0	2.00
Lavoro	3	1	0	0	1.25

Bioceres Crop Solutions currently has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 640.33%. Lavoro has a consensus price target of $3.44, indicating a potential upside of 1,030.76%. Given Lavoro’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lavoro is more favorable than Bioceres Crop Solutions.

Risk and Volatility

Bioceres Crop Solutions has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lavoro has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Bioceres Crop Solutions

Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp., together with its subsidiaries, provides crop productivity solutions. It operates through Seed and Integrated Products, Crop Protection, and Crop Nutrition segments. The Seed and Integrated Products segment provides seed traits, germplasms, and seed treatment packs for healthier, and higher yielding crops. The Crop Protection segment develops, produces, and markets Rizoderma, adjuvants, therapies, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and baits. The Crop Nutrition segment develops, produces, commercializes, and sells inoculants, bio-inductors, and biological and microgranulated fertilizers. It also offers HB4, a drought tolerant seed technology program. The company operates in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Estonia, the United States, Paraguay, Russia, South Africa, France, Uruguay, and internationally. Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Rosario, Argentina.

About Lavoro

Lavoro Limited operates as an agricultural inputs retailer. The company operates through three segments: Brazil Cluster, LATAM Cluster, and Crop Care Cluster. It distributes agricultural inputs, such as crop protection, seeds, fertilizers, foliar fertilizers, biologicals, adjuvants, organominerals, and others for the agricultural industry. The company also produces specialty fertilizers, crop protection products, and biological crop inputs. It operates in Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay. The company sells its products through its physical stores and digital channel. Lavoro Limited was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.