Ingredion (NYSE: INGR) and Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) are both mid-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.
Risk and Volatility
Ingredion has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hershey Company (The) has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
84.5% of Ingredion shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.3% of Hershey Company (The) shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Ingredion shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Hershey Company (The) shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Ingredion and Hershey Company (The)’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ingredion | $5.80 billion | 1.51 | $1.05 billion | $6.65 | 18.31 |
| Hershey Company (The) | $7.52 billion | 2.17 | $1.72 billion | $3.14 | 34.18 |
Hershey Company (The) has higher revenue and earnings than Ingredion. Ingredion is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hershey Company (The), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings for Ingredion and Hershey Company (The), as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ingredion | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.40 |
| Hershey Company (The) | 2 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2.14 |
Ingredion currently has a consensus target price of $141.67, suggesting a potential upside of 16.37%. Hershey Company (The) has a consensus target price of $110.93, suggesting a potential upside of 3.34%. Given Ingredion’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ingredion is more favorable than Hershey Company (The).
Profitability
This table compares Ingredion and Hershey Company (The)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ingredion | 8.35% | 20.84% | 9.53% |
| Hershey Company (The) | 8.95% | 119.66% | 18.88% |
Dividends
Ingredion pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Hershey Company (The) pays an annual dividend of $2.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Ingredion pays out 30.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hershey Company (The) pays out 78.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ingredion has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Hershey Company (The) has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.
Summary
Hershey Company (The) beats Ingredion on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
Ingredion Company Profile
Ingredion Incorporated is an ingredients solutions provider. The Company manufactures and sells sweetener, starches, nutrition ingredients and biomaterial solutions derived from the wet milling and processing of corn and other starch-based materials to a range of industries, both domestically and internationally. It operates through four segments: North America, South America, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). It turns corn, tapioca, potatoes, and other vegetables and fruits into ingredients and biomaterials for the food, beverage, paper and corrugating, brewing and other industries. Its product line includes animal feed products and edible corn oil. Its sweetener products include glucose syrups, high maltose syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), caramel color, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrins and glucose and syrup solids. Its starch-based products include both food-grade and industrial starches, and biomaterials. It also offers specialty ingredients.
Hershey Company (The) Company Profile
The Hershey Company is a producer of chocolate in North America. The Company’s principal product offerings include chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products; pantry items, such as baking ingredients and beverages, and snack items, such as spreads, meat snacks, bars and snack bites and mixes. Its segments include North America, and International and Other. The North America segment includes its chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery business, as well as its grocery and snacks business. This includes developing and growing its business in chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery, pantry, food service and other snacking product lines. The Company distributes and sells confectionery products in export markets of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and other regions. As of December 31, 2016, the Company marketed, sold and distributed its products under more than 80 brand names in approximately 70 countries across the world.
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