(DOLE) (DOLE) Competitors

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) and (DOLE) (NYSE:DOLE) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor LANC or DOLE?

Lancaster Colony received 261 more outperform votes than (DOLE) when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.54% of users gave Lancaster Colony an outperform vote while only 59.81% of users gave (DOLE) an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Lancaster Colony	Outperform Votes 389 62.54%	Underperform Votes 233 37.46%
(DOLE)	Outperform Votes 128 59.81%	Underperform Votes 86 40.19%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in LANC or DOLE?

66.4% of Lancaster Colony shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.5% of Lancaster Colony shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 41.8% of (DOLE) shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is LANC or DOLE more profitable?

Lancaster Colony has a net margin of 8.49% compared to (DOLE)'s net margin of 2.23%. Lancaster Colony's return on equity of 19.01% beat (DOLE)'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lancaster Colony	8.49%	19.01%	14.80%
(DOLE)	2.23%	8.35%	2.67%

Is LANC or DOLE a better dividend stock?

Lancaster Colony pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. (DOLE) pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Lancaster Colony pays out 62.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. (DOLE) pays out 16.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Lancaster Colony has raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years. (DOLE) is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, LANC or DOLE?

Lancaster Colony has higher earnings, but lower revenue than (DOLE). (DOLE) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lancaster Colony, 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
Lancaster Colony	$1.87B	2.75	$158.61M	$5.78	32.25
(DOLE)	$8.25B	0.18	$124.06M	$1.96	7.85

Does the media prefer LANC or DOLE?

In the previous week, Lancaster Colony had 9 more articles in the media than (DOLE). MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Lancaster Colony and 7 mentions for (DOLE). Lancaster Colony's average media sentiment score of 0.66 beat (DOLE)'s score of 0.00 indicating that Lancaster Colony is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lancaster Colony	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
(DOLE)	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more volatility & risk, LANC or DOLE?

Lancaster Colony has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, (DOLE) has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend LANC or DOLE?

Lancaster Colony currently has a consensus price target of $193.50, suggesting a potential upside of 3.82%. (DOLE) has a consensus price target of $16.67, suggesting a potential upside of 8.33%. Given (DOLE)'s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe (DOLE) is more favorable than Lancaster Colony.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lancaster Colony	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
(DOLE)	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Summary

Lancaster Colony beats (DOLE) on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.