Contrasting Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) and WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG)

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) and Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for WK Kellogg and Ingredion, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WK Kellogg	2	6	0	0	1.75
Ingredion	0	3	3	0	2.50

WK Kellogg currently has a consensus price target of $12.06, indicating a potential upside of 11.83%. Ingredion has a consensus price target of $120.50, indicating a potential upside of 16.79%. Given Ingredion’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ingredion is more favorable than WK Kellogg.

Profitability

This table compares WK Kellogg and Ingredion’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WK Kellogg	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ingredion	7.61%	18.48%	8.04%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

84.8% of Ingredion shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Ingredion shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares WK Kellogg and Ingredion’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WK Kellogg	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ingredion	$7.95 billion	0.85	$492.00 million	$9.34	11.05

Ingredion has higher revenue and earnings than WK Kellogg.

Summary

Ingredion beats WK Kellogg on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WK Kellogg

WK Kellogg Co operates as a food company in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. It offers ready-to-eat cereal products primarily under the Frosted Flakes, Special K, Froot Loops, Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini-Wheats, and Kashi brands. The company was formerly known as North America Cereal Co. and changed its name to WK Kellogg Co in March 2023. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is based in Battle Creek, Michigan.

About Ingredion

Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients, and biomaterial solutions derived from wet milling and processing corn, and other starch-based materials to a range of industries in North America, South America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers starch products for use in a range of processed foods; cornstarch; specialty paper starches for enhanced drainage, fiber retention, oil and grease resistance, improved printability, and biochemical oxygen demand control; starches and specialty starches for textile industry; industrial starches are used in the production of construction materials, textiles, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, as well as in mining and water filtration; and specialty industrial starches for use in biomaterial applications, including biodegradable plastics, fabric softeners and detergents, hair and skin care applications, dusting powders for surgical gloves, and in the production of glass fiber and insulation. It also provides sweetener products comprising glucose syrups, high maltose syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrin, glucose syrup solids, and non-genetically modified organism syrups for use in food and beverage products, such as baked goods, snack foods, canned fruits, condiments, candy and other sweets, dairy products, ice cream, jams and jellies, prepared mixes, table syrups, soft drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, and others. In addition, the company refined corn oil, corn gluten feed, and corn gluten meal; and other products, including fruit and vegetable products, such as concentrates, purees, and essences, as well as pulse proteins and hydrocolloids systems and blends. The company was formerly known as Corn Products International, Inc. and changed its name to Ingredion Incorporated in June 2012. Ingredion Incorporated was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Westchester, Illinois.