Hilton Food Group (HFG) Competitors

Tate & Lyle (LON:TATE) and Hilton Food Group (LON:HFG) are both small-cap consumer defensive companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Does the media prefer TATE or HFG?

In the previous week, Tate & Lyle had 14 more articles in the media than Hilton Food Group. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Tate & Lyle and 7 mentions for Hilton Food Group. Hilton Food Group's average media sentiment score of 0.45 beat Tate & Lyle's score of 0.17 indicating that Hilton Food Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Tate & Lyle	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Hilton Food Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is TATE or HFG more profitable?

Tate & Lyle has a net margin of 11.41% compared to Hilton Food Group's net margin of 1.22%. Tate & Lyle's return on equity of 15.37% beat Hilton Food Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tate & Lyle	11.41%	15.37%	6.03%
Hilton Food Group	1.22%	15.15%	4.96%

Which has better valuation & earnings, TATE or HFG?

Tate & Lyle has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Hilton Food Group. Tate & Lyle is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hilton Food Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tate & Lyle	£1.74B	0.91	£206.63M	£0.35	1,041.74
Hilton Food Group	£4.14B	0.14	£46.35M	£0.43	1,537.21

Is TATE or HFG a better dividend stock?

Tate & Lyle pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Hilton Food Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Tate & Lyle pays out 55.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hilton Food Group pays out 80.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Tate & Lyle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of TATE or HFG?

61.5% of Tate & Lyle shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.6% of Hilton Food Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Tate & Lyle shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Hilton Food Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate TATE or HFG?

Tate & Lyle presently has a consensus target price of GBX 540, indicating a potential upside of 50.25%. Hilton Food Group has a consensus target price of GBX 920, indicating a potential upside of 39.18%. Given Tate & Lyle's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Tate & Lyle is more favorable than Hilton Food Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tate & Lyle	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Hilton Food Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more risk & volatility, TATE or HFG?

Tate & Lyle has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hilton Food Group has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Tate & Lyle beats Hilton Food Group on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.