General Mills (NYSE:GIS) and Tate & Lyle (OTCMKTS:TATYY) Critical Review

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) and Tate & Lyle (OTCMKTS:TATYY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares General Mills and Tate & Lyle”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
General Mills	$19.49 billion	0.97	$2.30 billion	$4.09	8.62
Tate & Lyle	$2.21 billion	0.98	$182.45 million	N/A	N/A

General Mills has higher revenue and earnings than Tate & Lyle.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.7% of General Mills shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of General Mills shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Tate & Lyle shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for General Mills and Tate & Lyle, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
General Mills	6	11	4	0	1.90
Tate & Lyle	1	3	0	1	2.20

General Mills currently has a consensus target price of $43.44, indicating a potential upside of 23.19%. Given General Mills’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe General Mills is more favorable than Tate & Lyle.

Volatility & Risk

General Mills has a beta of 0.01, indicating that its stock price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tate & Lyle has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares General Mills and Tate & Lyle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
General Mills	12.05%	19.19%	5.48%
Tate & Lyle	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

General Mills pays an annual dividend of $2.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Tate & Lyle pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. General Mills pays out 59.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. General Mills has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. General Mills is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

General Mills beats Tate & Lyle on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. The company also manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food; and operates ice cream parlors. It markets its products under the Annie’s, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, Dunkaroos, Edgard & Cooper, Fiber One, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto’s, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Häagen-Dazs, Kitano, Kix, Lärabar, Latina, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Nudges, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Progresso, Tastefuls, Total, Totino’s , Trix, True Chews, True Solutions, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, and Yoki brands. The company sells its products to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage, and other industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, other European countries, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Food & Beverage Solutions, Sucralose, and Primary Products. The company offers dairy products, soups, sauces, and dressings; bakery products and snacks; texturants; nutritive sweeteners, such as high fructose corn syrup and dextrose; fibres; and stabilizers and functional systems. It also provides industrial starches; acidulants, such as citric acid; and commodities comprising corn gluten feed, meal, and corn oil. The company was incorporated in 1903 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.