National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) & Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) Critical Review

Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) and National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) are both mid-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Molson Coors Beverage and National Beverage, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Molson Coors Beverage	4	11	4	0	2.00
National Beverage	2	0	0	0	1.00

Molson Coors Beverage currently has a consensus price target of $43.12, suggesting a potential upside of 10.47%. National Beverage has a consensus price target of $31.00, suggesting a potential downside of 10.48%. Given Molson Coors Beverage’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Molson Coors Beverage is more favorable than National Beverage.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.5% of Molson Coors Beverage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.0% of National Beverage shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Molson Coors Beverage shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 74.7% of National Beverage shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Molson Coors Beverage has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Beverage has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Molson Coors Beverage and National Beverage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Molson Coors Beverage	-17.83%	9.46%	4.25%
National Beverage	14.81%	32.61%	23.51%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Molson Coors Beverage and National Beverage”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Molson Coors Beverage	$11.08 billion	0.74	-$2.14 billion	($11.54)	-3.38
National Beverage	$1.18 billion	2.75	$183.65 million	$1.86	18.62

National Beverage has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Molson Coors Beverage. Molson Coors Beverage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Beverage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

National Beverage beats Molson Coors Beverage on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Molson Coors Beverage

Molson Coors Beverage Company manufactures, markets, and sells beer and other malt beverage products under various brands in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers flavored malt beverages including hard seltzers, craft, spirits and energy, and ready to drink beverages. It provides its products under Aspall Cider, Blue Moon, Coors Original, Five Trail, Hop Valley brands, Leinenkugel’s, Madri, Miller Genuine Draft, Molson Ultra, Sharp’s, Staropramen, and Vizzy Hard Seltzer above premier brands; Bergenbier, Borsodi, Carling, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Jelen, Kamenitza, Miller Lite, Molson Canadian, and Niksicko, Ozujsko under the premium brands; and Branik, Icehouse, Keystone, Miller High Life, Milwaukee’s Best, and Steel Reserve under the economy brands. The company was formerly known as Molson Coors Brewing Company and changed its name to Molson Coors Beverage Company in January 2020. Molson Coors Beverage Company was founded in 1774 and is based in Golden, Colorado.

About National Beverage

National Beverage Corp., through its subsidiaries, develops, produces, markets, and sells a portfolio of sparkling waters, juices, energy drinks, and carbonated soft drinks primarily in the United States and Canada. The company's Power+ brand portfolio offers sparkling water products under the LaCroix, LaCroix Cúrate, and LaCroix NiCola; non-carbonated flavored water under the Clear Fruit; energy drink and shots under the Rip It; juice and juice-based products under Everfresh, Everfresh Premier Varietals, and Mr. Pure; and carbonated soft drinks under Shasta and Faygo brands. It serves retailers, as well as various smaller up-and-down-the-street accounts through the take-home, convenience, and food-service distribution channels. National Beverage Corp. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.