Critical Comparison: Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) versus N2OFF (NASDAQ:NITO)

N2OFF (NASDAQ:NITO) and Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

N2OFF has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a beta of 1.76, meaning that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares N2OFF and Scotts Miracle-Gro’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
N2OFF	N/A	-100.78%	-87.04%
Scotts Miracle-Gro	-0.98%	-44.97%	3.77%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

61.2% of N2OFF shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.1% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of N2OFF shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 26.5% of Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for N2OFF and Scotts Miracle-Gro, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
N2OFF	0	0	0	0	0.00
Scotts Miracle-Gro	0	4	2	0	2.33

Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus price target of $78.60, suggesting a potential upside of 8.25%. Given Scotts Miracle-Gro’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Scotts Miracle-Gro is more favorable than N2OFF.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares N2OFF and Scotts Miracle-Gro”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
N2OFF	$260,000.00	3.74	-$6.52 million	N/A	N/A
Scotts Miracle-Gro	$3.55 billion	1.16	-$380.10 million	($0.69)	-105.23

N2OFF has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Summary

Scotts Miracle-Gro beats N2OFF on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About N2OFF

N2OFF, Inc., an agri-food tech company, engages in the development and sale of eco-friendly green solutions for the food industry to enhance food safety and shelf life of fresh produce. Its products are based on proprietary blend of food acids combined with various oxidizing agent-based sanitizers and low concentrated fungicides for cleaning, sanitizing, and controlling pathogens on fresh produce that are safer for human consumption and extend their shelf life by reducing their decay. The company’s products include SavePROTECT or PeroStar, a processing aid for post-harvest application that is added to fruit and vegetable wash water; and SF3HS and SF3H, a post-harvest cleaning and sanitizing solution to control plant and foodborne pathogens. It also offers SpuDefender for controlling post-harvest potato sprouts; and FreshProtect to control spoilage-creating microorganisms on post-harvest citrus fruit. The company was formerly known as Save Foods, Inc. and changed its name to N2OFF, Inc. in March 2024. N2OFF, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Hod HaSharon, Israel.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, and other durable products, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; and gardening and landscape products, which include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes, garden soils, mulches and ground cover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions. It offers hydroponic products that help users to grow plants, flowers, and vegetables using little or no soil; lighting systems and components for use in hydroponic and indoor gardening applications; insect, rodent, and weed control products for home areas; and non-selective weed killer products. The company sells its products under the Scotts, Turf Builder, EZ Seed, PatchMaster, Thick'R Lawn, GrubEx, EdgeGuard, Handy Green II, Miracle-Gro, LiquaFeed, Shake N Feed, Hyponex, Earthgro, Nature Scapes, Ortho, Miracle-Gro Performance Organics, Miracle-Gro Organic Choice, Whitney Farms, EcoScraps, Mother Earth, Botanicare, General Hydroponics, Cyco, Gavita, Agrolux, HydroLogic Purification System, Gro Pro, AeroGarden, Titan, Tomcat, Ortho Weed B Gon, Roundup, Groundclear, and Alchemist brands. It serves home centers, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, large hardware chains, independent hardware stores, nurseries, garden centers, e-commerce platforms, and food and drug stores, as well as indoor gardening and hydroponic distributors, retailers, and growers. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Marysville, Ohio.