Comparing Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) and McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) and Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for McCormick & Company, Incorporated and Cal-Maine Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
McCormick & Company, Incorporated	0	8	5	0	2.38
Cal-Maine Foods	0	5	0	0	2.00

McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has a consensus target price of $60.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.02%. Cal-Maine Foods has a consensus target price of $94.71, suggesting a potential upside of 26.92%. Given Cal-Maine Foods’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cal-Maine Foods is more favorable than McCormick & Company, Incorporated.

Profitability

This table compares McCormick & Company, Incorporated and Cal-Maine Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
McCormick & Company, Incorporated	21.91%	12.78%	5.76%
Cal-Maine Foods	10.88%	11.79%	10.06%

Volatility and Risk

McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cal-Maine Foods has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares McCormick & Company, Incorporated and Cal-Maine Foods”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
McCormick & Company, Incorporated	$6.84 billion	1.98	$789.40 million	$6.01	8.39
Cal-Maine Foods	$2.91 billion	1.20	$316.68 million	$6.55	11.39

McCormick & Company, Incorporated has higher revenue and earnings than Cal-Maine Foods. McCormick & Company, Incorporated is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cal-Maine Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.7% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.7% of Cal-Maine Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.6% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of Cal-Maine Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

McCormick & Company, Incorporated beats Cal-Maine Foods on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

McCormick & Co., Inc. engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. It operates through the Consumer and Flavor Solutions segments. The Consumer segment sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and sauces. The Flavor Solutions segment includes seasoning blends, spices and herbs, condiments, coating systems, and compound flavors. The company was founded by Willoughby M. McCormick in 1889 and is headquartered in Baltimore, MD.

About Cal-Maine Foods

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces, grades, packages, markets, and distributes shell eggs. The company offers specialty shell eggs, such as nutritionally enhanced, cage free, organic, free-range, pasture-raised, and brown eggs under the Egg-Land's Best, Land O' Lakes, Farmhouse Eggs, Sunups, Sunny Meadow, and 4Grain brand names. It sells its products to various customers, including national and regional grocery store chains, club stores, independent supermarkets, foodservice distributors, and egg product consumers primarily in the southwestern, southeastern, mid-western, and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi.