Greenlane (NASDAQ:GNLN) and Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares Greenlane and Scholastic's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Greenlane | -9.97% | -17.49% | -12.38% |
| Scholastic | -4.77% | -0.96% | -0.55% |
Risk & Volatility
Greenlane has a beta of 2.74, suggesting that its share price is 174% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Scholastic has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Greenlane and Scholastic, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Greenlane | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Scholastic | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Greenlane presently has a consensus target price of $6.3333, indicating a potential upside of 75.44%. Scholastic has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential downside of 28.04%. Given Greenlane's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Greenlane is more favorable than Scholastic.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Greenlane and Scholastic's top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Greenlane | $185.01 million | 1.77 | $-28,820,000.00 | $0.36 | 10.03 |
| Scholastic | $1.49 billion | 0.77 | $-43,800,000.00 | ($0.08) | -416.88 |
Greenlane has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Scholastic. Scholastic is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Greenlane, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
4.9% of Greenlane shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.6% of Scholastic shares are held by institutional investors. 83.6% of Greenlane shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.3% of Scholastic shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Greenlane beats Scholastic on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
