Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 3 stocks made the list for top value stocks in the Food Processing industry. Those looking for value stocks to add to their portfolio may want to use this list as a starting point for further investment research.

Latest Food Processing Stock News

Before choosing which top Food Processing stock to buy, be sure to conduct proper due diligence: analyze various financial metrics and look at historical data, public statements and news coverage.

Innovation in food processing technology and an upsurge in the demand for processed food are expected to drive the market over the next few years. Dietary shifts including increasingly prominent health-conscious diets in both developed and developing countries are also predicted to fuel growth. Despite the long-term growth outlook, supply chain struggles that began during the pandemic persist. To combat pressure on margins, many are raising prices of goods and ultimately are expected to have stronger margins at the end of the year. Additionally, it has been difficult to predict the availability of products. Due to this, many companies must act as their own suppliers and source their own goods. Food processors hope this will help them deal with demand better. Food-at-home demand is expected to remain permanently elevated versus pre-pandemic levels. Consumption volume will likely face some downward pressure in 2022 due to price increases and the re-opening of the broader economy, which tends to support food-away-from-home demand. New consumer habits and increased work-from-home adoption are expected to keep food-at-home demand strong. Fading stimulus benefits should allow private labels (i.e., store brands) to make a comeback in 2022 after losing market share over the past two years to branded products.

Why Focus on Undervalued Food Processing Stocks?

Value investors seek to buy stocks at a discount to their intrinsic value. Long-term returns show that such strategies are advantageous. Value stocks, as a group, tend to outperform growth stocks over extended periods of time. Typically, value investors perform financial analysis of numerous metrics, don’t follow the herd and are long-term investors.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade is derived from a stock’s Value Score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

What Goes Into AAII’s Value Grade?

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data as well as the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movement. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors with that task.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A–F grades for more than just value. It is possible for a stock to appear cheap based on one valuation metric but appear expensive on another. It is also possible for one valuation ratio to be associated with outperforming stocks during certain periods of time but not others. Some stocks may even have null values for certain metrics like the price-earnings ratio or the price-to-book ratio but not others. An example of this would be a company with losses instead of profits or a negative book value because of heavy borrowing. Negative earnings or book value result in non-meaningful ratios that are left blank or null.

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3 Undervalued Food Processing Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 3 undervalued stocks in the Food Processing industry for Thursday, May 11, 2023. Let’s take a closer look at their individual scores to see how they measure up against each other and the Food Processing industry median.

The Value Grade is assigned based on how each stock’s composite valuation compares to all other stocks.

The process for assigning grades starts with each variable for a given stock. The percentile rankings for all valid ratios that a stock has are calculated. So, for instance, a stock could have a price-to-book ranking in the 43rd percentile, a price-earnings ranking in the 67th percentile, a price-to-sales ranking in the 23rd percentile, etc. Then, those rankings are averaged for each stock. (A minimum of two valid variables are required, though all six will be used if available.)

Once the average of the individual variables is calculated, that average is ranked against all stocks. Put another way, each stock’s composite valuation is compared to all other stocks. These ranks are then sorted into quintiles from the cheapest 20% (a grade of A) to the most expensive 20% (a grade of F).

As always, we recommend that you conduct proper due diligence and research before investing in any security. We also suggest that investors utilize numerous grades, not just value, when it comes to deciding whether a company is a good fit for their allocation needs.

Whole Earth Brands Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Whole Earth Brands, Inc. is a global food company. The Company is enabling healthier lifestyles and providing access to quality plant-based sweeteners, flavor enhancers and other foods through its diverse portfolio of trusted brands and delicious products. The Company has a global platform of branded products and ingredients, focused on the consumer transition towards natural alternatives and clean label products. The Company operates through two segments: Branded CPG and Flavors & Ingredients. Its Branded CPG segment products are sold under both its flagship brands and private label brands. Its global flagship brands include Whole Earth, Pure Via, Wholesome, Swerve, Canderel, Equal and existing branded adjacencies. The Company?s Flavors & Ingredients segment products provide a variety of solutions for its customers including flavor enhancement, flavor / aftertaste masking, moisturizing, product mouthfeel modification and skin soothing characteristics.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Whole Earth Brands Inc has a Value Score of 66, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Whole Earth Brands Inc’s price-to-sales ratio at 0.22 compared to the industry median at 0.99, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Whole Earth Brands Inc’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Now, let’s assess Whole Earth Brands Inc’s EV/EBITDA ratio, also known as enterprise multiple. At 12.4, when compared to the industry median of 12.4, the company may be considered fairly valued in relation to its peers. Value investors could use the enterprise multiple to identify stocks that are considered overvalued or undervalued relative to their industry.

Shareholder yield is the sum of a stock’s dividend yield (paid over previous 12 months minus special dividends) and the percentage of net share buybacks over the previous 12 months. Whole Earth Brands Inc’s shareholder yield is lower than its industry median ratio of (0.06%). Value investors may look for an attractive shareholder yield because it can be a powerful tool for identifying if the company has a good management team.

As one of the most common value metrics, the price-to-book ratio evaluates a company’s current market price relative to its book value. Whole Earth Brands Inc’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 2.05. This could make Whole Earth Brands Inc more attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. is a creator and manufacturer of food, beverage, health and biosciences, scent and pharma solutions and complementary adjacent products. The Company?s segments include Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent and Pharma Solutions. The Nourish segment comprises of ingredients, flavors and food designs, with a diversified portfolio across natural and plant-based specialty food ingredients, flavor compounds, and savory solutions and inclusions. The Health & Biosciences comprises of health, cultures and food enzymes, home and personal care, animal nutrition and grain processing. The Scent segment comprises of fragrance compounds, including fine fragrances and consumer fragrances; fragrance ingredients, and cosmetic active ingredients. The Pharma Solutions segment produces a portfolio that includes cellulosics and seaweed-based pharmaceutical excipients, used to improve the functionality and delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc has a Value Score of 67, which is considered to be undervalued.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make International Flavors & Fragrances Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 2.05.

You can read more about International Flavors & Fragrances Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Laird Superfood Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Laird Superfood, Inc. creates plant-based superfood products. The Company operates as an emerging consumer products platform focused on manufacturing and marketing plant-based and functional foods. The Company’s core Laird Superfood platform products include Superfood Creamer coffee creamers, Hydrate hydration products and beverage enhancing supplements, harvest snacks and other food items, and roasted and instant coffees, teas and hot chocolate. The Company’s creamers and coffee products include superfood creamers, coffees and instafuels. Its drink mixes and blends products include plant milk, renew blends, functional mushroom blends, activate mixes and hydrate coconut water. Its snacks and food products include snacks, breakfast, and baking mixes.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Laird Superfood Inc has a Value Score of 95, which is considered to be undervalued.

Laird Superfood Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Laird Superfood Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 2.05.

You can read more about Laird Superfood Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Other Food Processing Stock Grades

Value is just one of the five Stock Grades included in our A+ Investor service. AAII members can see the top-graded stocks—those with grades of A or B for value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality—on the A+ Stock Grades Screener.

Also, if you want full access to all of AAII’s premium services, you can subscribe to one convenient bundled plan called AAII Platinum where you can try out A+ Investor, AAII Dividend Investing, the Stock Superstars Report, Growth Investing and VMQ Stocks. With the other premium services, you can dive deep into additional metrics, portfolios, commentary and information about Food Processing stocks as well as other industrys.

Choosing Which of the 3 Best Food Processing Stocks Is Right for You

Choosing which value stocks to invest in will ultimately depend on your individual goals and allocation; however, comparing similar value stocks in the same industry can help you analyze which might be better investments for you in the long run. So, let’s take a look at the Value Grade for all of our stocks.

• Whole Earth Brands Inc stock has a Value Grade of B.
• International Flavors & Fragrances Inc stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Laird Superfood Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 3 undervalued stocks in the Food Processing industry as well as their overall grades, it’s time for you to conduct additional research to see if these could fit your portfolio needs based on your goals and risk tolerance. AAII can help you figure out both and identify which investments align with what works best for you.

We do so through a program of education that teaches you to invest for yourself and become an effective manager of your own wealth—no more relying on others for your financial independence. You can rely on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis that makes you a better investor.

A+ Investor adds to that qualitative teaching by giving you a powerful data suite that helps you whittle down investment decisions to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Additional Resources About Food Processing Stocks

Want to learn more about Food Processing stocks to see if they could be the right investment for you? Check out some additional resources and articles to help you on your financial journey.

• 3 Undervalued Food Processing Stocks for Thursday, May 11
• 5 Undervalued Food Processing Stocks for Wednesday, May 10
• Why B&G; Foods Inc’s (BGS) Stock Is Down 9.81%
• Why Darling Ingredients Inc’s (DAR) Stock Is Up 8.57%

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.