Lendway (NASDAQ:LDWY) and Limoneira (NASDAQ:LMNR) Critical Review

Lendway (NASDAQ:LDWY) and Limoneira (NASDAQ:LMNR) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Lendway has a beta of 1.9, meaning that its stock price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Limoneira has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lendway and Limoneira”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lendway	$31.58 million	0.25	$2.41 million	($1.98)	-2.25
Limoneira	$189.08 million	2.42	$9.40 million	$0.29	87.45

Limoneira has higher revenue and earnings than Lendway. Lendway is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Limoneira, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

6.6% of Lendway shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.3% of Limoneira shares are held by institutional investors. 13.2% of Lendway shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of Limoneira shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lendway and Limoneira’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lendway	N/A	-21.56%	-4.32%
Limoneira	3.24%	3.97%	2.44%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Lendway and Limoneira, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lendway	0	0	0	0	0.00
Limoneira	0	1	2	0	2.67

Limoneira has a consensus target price of $25.33, indicating a potential downside of 0.11%. Given Limoneira’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Limoneira is more favorable than Lendway.

Summary

Limoneira beats Lendway on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lendway

Lendway, Inc. operates as a specialty agricultural and finance company focusing on making and managing its agricultural investments in the United States and internationally. It owns and operates FarmlandCredit.com, a non-bank lending business that seeks to purchase existing loans and/or originate and fund new loans domestically. The company was formerly known as Insignia Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Lendway, Inc. in August 2023. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Limoneira

Limoneira Company operates as an agribusiness and real estate development company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three divisions: Agribusiness, Rental Operations, and Real Estate Development. It grows, processes, packs, markets, and sells lemons. The company also grows avocado, oranges, and specialty citrus and other crops, including Moro blood oranges, Cara Cara oranges, Valencia oranges, Minneola tangelos, Star Ruby grapefruit, pummelos, and wine grapes. It has approximately 3,500 acres of lemons planted primarily in Ventura, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, and San Bernardino Counties in California; and Jujuy, Argentina, as well in Yuma County, Arizona, and La Serena, Chile; 1,200 acres of avocados planted in Ventura County; 100 acres of oranges planted in Tulare County, California; and 400 acres of specialty citrus and other crops. In addition, the company rents residential housing units and commercial office buildings, as well as leases approximately 400 acres of its land to third-party agricultural tenants. Further, it is involved in the organic recycling operations; and development of land parcels, multi-family housing, and single-family homes. The company markets and sells its lemons directly to food service, wholesale, and retail customers; avocados, oranges, specialty citrus, and other crops to third-party packinghouses; and wine grapes to wine producers. Limoneira Company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Santa Paula, California.