Lifeway Foods (LWAY) Competitors

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) and TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and community ranking.

Does the media refer more to LWAY or THS?

In the previous week, TreeHouse Foods had 2 more articles in the media than Lifeway Foods. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for TreeHouse Foods and 10 mentions for Lifeway Foods. Lifeway Foods' average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat TreeHouse Foods' score of 0.48 indicating that Lifeway Foods is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lifeway Foods	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
TreeHouse Foods	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals and insiders believe in LWAY or THS?

36.4% of Lifeway Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of TreeHouse Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 18.9% of Lifeway Foods shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of TreeHouse Foods shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, LWAY or THS?

TreeHouse Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Lifeway Foods. Lifeway Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TreeHouse Foods, 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
Lifeway Foods	$186.82M	1.93	$11.37M	$0.59	40.19
TreeHouse Foods	$3.35B	0.35	$26.90M	$0.54	42.74

Which has more risk & volatility, LWAY or THS?

Lifeway Foods has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TreeHouse Foods has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in LWAY or THS?

TreeHouse Foods received 184 more outperform votes than Lifeway Foods when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 66.30% of users gave Lifeway Foods an outperform vote while only 63.59% of users gave TreeHouse Foods an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Lifeway Foods	Outperform Votes 305 66.30%	Underperform Votes 155 33.70%
TreeHouse Foods	Outperform Votes 489 63.59%	Underperform Votes 280 36.41%

Do analysts prefer LWAY or THS?

Lifeway Foods currently has a consensus target price of $26.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.77%. TreeHouse Foods has a consensus target price of $30.50, suggesting a potential upside of 32.14%. Given TreeHouse Foods' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe TreeHouse Foods is more favorable than Lifeway Foods.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lifeway Foods	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
TreeHouse Foods	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is LWAY or THS more profitable?

Lifeway Foods has a net margin of 7.23% compared to TreeHouse Foods' net margin of 0.80%. Lifeway Foods' return on equity of 19.97% beat TreeHouse Foods' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lifeway Foods	7.23%	19.97%	15.44%
TreeHouse Foods	0.80%	6.42%	2.54%

Summary

Lifeway Foods beats TreeHouse Foods on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.