Financial Analysis: Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) & Sow Good (NASDAQ:SOWG)

Sow Good (NASDAQ:SOWG) and Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Sow Good has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lifeway Foods has a beta of 0.45, indicating that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

10.7% of Sow Good shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.4% of Lifeway Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Sow Good shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.6% of Lifeway Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Sow Good and Lifeway Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sow Good	1	0	0	0	1.00
Lifeway Foods	0	1	2	1	3.00

Lifeway Foods has a consensus price target of $34.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.00%. Given Lifeway Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lifeway Foods is more favorable than Sow Good.

Profitability

This table compares Sow Good and Lifeway Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sow Good	N/A	-458.33%	-136.07%
Lifeway Foods	4.48%	12.66%	9.29%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sow Good and Lifeway Foods”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sow Good	$31.99 million	2.17	-$40.64 million	($16.03)	-0.22
Lifeway Foods	$242.41 million	1.62	$13.86 million	$0.70	37.08

Lifeway Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Sow Good. Sow Good is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lifeway Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Lifeway Foods beats Sow Good on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sow Good

Sow Good Inc. is engaged in producing nutritious products in the freeze-dried food industry. Sow Good Inc., formerly known as Black Ridge Oil and Gas Inc., is based in IRVING, Texas.

About Lifeway Foods

Lifeway Foods, Inc. produces and markets probiotic-based products in the United States and internationally. Its primary product is drinkable kefir, a cultured dairy product in various organic and non-organic sizes, flavors, and types. The company offers European-style soft cheeses; cream and other products; ProBugs, a line of kefir products designed for children; drinkable yogurt; and fresh made butter and sour cream. It sells its products under the Lifeway, GlenOaks Farms, and Fresh Made brand names, as well as under private labels on behalf of customers primarily through direct sales force, brokers, and distributors. Lifeway Foods, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is based in Morton Grove, Illinois.