Analyzing Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. (OTCMKTS:NFPDF) and General Mills (NYSE:GIS)

Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. (OTCMKTS:NFPDF) and General Mills (NYSE:GIS) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. and General Mills’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd.	N/A	N/A	N/A	$170.94	0.14
General Mills	$19.86 billion	2.00	$2.50 billion	$4.31	16.48

General Mills has higher revenue and earnings than Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd.. Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than General Mills, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. pays an annual dividend of $59.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 246.8%. General Mills pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. pays out 34.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. General Mills pays out 55.7% 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. Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

11.9% of Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.7% of General Mills shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of General Mills shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. and General Mills’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd.	N/A	N/A	N/A
General Mills	12.57%	26.56%	8.40%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. and General Mills, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd.	0	0	1	0	3.00
General Mills	1	14	3	0	2.11

General Mills has a consensus target price of $69.71, indicating a potential downside of 1.86%. Given General Mills’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe General Mills is more favorable than Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd..

Summary

General Mills beats Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd. on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd.

Nissin Foods Holdings Co.,Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of instant foods in Japan and internationally. The company operates through the Nissin Food Products, Myojo Foods, Chilled and Frozen Foods and Beverages, Confectionery, The Americas, China, Asia, EMEA, and Domestic Others segments. Its products include packaged instant noodles, cup noodles, chilled and frozen foods, soups, chilled noodles, cereal foods, dairy products, confectionery, rice crackers and snacks, beverages and yogurt, potato chips, and other products. The company offers its products under Chicken Ramen, Cup Noodle, Cup Noodles Chicken, Demae Iccho, Hé wèi dào, 365 Noodles, Cup brand names. The company was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. The company also manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food; and operates ice cream parlors. It markets its products under the Annie’s, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, Dunkaroos, Edgard & Cooper, Fiber One, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto’s, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Häagen-Dazs, Kitano, Kix, Lärabar, Latina, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Nudges, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Progresso, Tastefuls, Total, Totino’s , Trix, True Chews, True Solutions, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, and Yoki brands. The company sells its products to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.