Critical Survey: Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) and China Xiangtai Food (NASDAQ:PLIN)

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) and China Xiangtai Food (NASDAQ:PLIN) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Smithfield Foods and China Xiangtai Food, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smithfield Foods	0	1	7	1	3.00
China Xiangtai Food	0	0	0	0	0.00

Smithfield Foods presently has a consensus price target of $27.86, suggesting a potential upside of 40.83%. Given Smithfield Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Smithfield Foods is more favorable than China Xiangtai Food.

Profitability

This table compares Smithfield Foods and China Xiangtai Food’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smithfield Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
China Xiangtai Food	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Smithfield Foods and China Xiangtai Food”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smithfield Foods	$14.19 billion	0.55	N/A	N/A	N/A
China Xiangtai Food	$80.50 million	0.20	-$45.61 million	N/A	N/A

Smithfield Foods has higher revenue and earnings than China Xiangtai Food.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.5% of China Xiangtai Food shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Smithfield Foods shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Smithfield Foods beats China Xiangtai Food on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc. produces and markets a variety of fresh meat and packaged meats products both domestically and internationally. The Company operates in four segments: Pork, Hog Production, International and Corporate, each of which consists of a number of subsidiaries, joint ventures and other investments. The Pork segment consists mainly of its three wholly owned United States fresh pork and packaged meats subsidiaries: The Smithfield Packing Company, Inc. (Smithfield Packing), Farmland Foods, Inc. (Farmland Foods) and John Morrell Food Group (John Morrell). The Hog Production segment consists of the Company’s hog production operations located in the United States. On September 2012 (fiscal 2013), the Company acquired a 70% controlling interest in American Skin Food Group, LLC. Effective September 26, 2013, Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd merged with Smithfield Foods Inc, a producer and wholesaler of pork meat products.

About China Xiangtai Food

China Xiangtai Food Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the slaughtering, processing, packing, distribution, wholesale, and retail of various fresh pork meat and parts in the People's Republic of China. It offers fresh pork and byproducts, as well as beef, lamb, chicken, duck, and rabbit meat. The company also provides sausage, bacon, canned meat, and sliced and ground pork. China Xiangtai Food Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Chongqing, the People's Republic of China.