Critical Review: Celsius (NASDAQ:CELH) vs. General Mills (NYSE:GIS)

Celsius (NASDAQ:CELH) and General Mills (NYSE:GIS) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Celsius and General Mills”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Celsius	$2.52 billion	2.76	$108.00 million	$0.43	63.07
General Mills	$18.42 billion	1.05	-$87.60 million	($0.18)	-200.87

Celsius has higher earnings, but lower revenue than General Mills. General Mills is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Celsius, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Celsius has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Mills has a beta of -0.03, suggesting that its share price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Celsius and General Mills’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Celsius	5.85%	37.95%	9.62%
General Mills	-0.48%	21.37%	5.94%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Celsius and General Mills, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Celsius	0	4	21	0	2.84
General Mills	7	11	4	0	1.86

Celsius currently has a consensus target price of $58.65, suggesting a potential upside of 116.26%. General Mills has a consensus target price of $39.16, suggesting a potential upside of 8.30%. Given Celsius’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Celsius is more favorable than General Mills.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

61.0% of Celsius shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.7% of General Mills shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Celsius shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of General Mills shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Celsius beats General Mills on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Celsius

Celsius Holdings, Inc. develops, processes, markets, distributes, and sells functional energy drinks and liquid supplements in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canadian, European, Middle Eastern, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers CELSIUS, a fitness drink or supplement designed to accelerate metabolism and burn body fat; various flavors and carbonated and non-carbonated functional energy drinks under the CELSIUS Originals and Vibe name, as well as functional energy drink under the CELSIUS Essentials and CELSIUS On-the-Go Powder names; and CELSIUS ready-to drink products. It distributes its products through direct-to-store delivery, distributors, supermarkets, convenience stores, drug stores, nutritional stores, and mass merchants, as well as health clubs, gyms, the military, and e-commerce websites. The company was formerly known as Vector Ventures, Inc. and changed its name to Celsius Holdings, Inc. in January 2007. Celsius Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.

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.