Critical Contrast: Freshpet (FRPT) and The Competition

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) is one of 328 public companies in the “Food Products” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Freshpet to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Freshpet and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Freshpet	0	7	9	0	2.56
Freshpet Competitors	2449	8299	8374	404	2.34

Freshpet presently has a consensus target price of $80.31, suggesting a potential upside of 24.72%. As a group, “Food Products” companies have a potential upside of 17.82%. Given Freshpet’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Freshpet is more favorable than its competitors.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

38.8% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Freshpet shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.4% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Freshpet and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Freshpet	17.28%	5.97%	4.07%
Freshpet Competitors	-13.55%	-142.54%	-2.56%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Freshpet and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Freshpet	$1.10 billion	$139.14 million	16.94
Freshpet Competitors	$6.82 billion	$700.97 million	-2,412.79

Freshpet’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Freshpet. Freshpet is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Risk & Volatility

Freshpet has a beta of 1.75, suggesting that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freshpet’s competitors have a beta of -3.83, suggesting that their average share price is 483% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Freshpet beats its competitors on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Freshpet Company Profile

Freshpet, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells dog food, cat food, and dog treats under the Freshpet brand name; and Dognation and Dog Joy labels through various classes of retail, including grocery, mass, club, pet specialty, and natural, as well as online. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey.