Comparing Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) and Lendway (NASDAQ:LDWY)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lendway and Village Farms International”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lendway	$18.80 million	0.43	$2.41 million	($1.98)	-2.32
Village Farms International	$285.60 million	0.29	-$31.80 million	($0.45)	-1.62

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

6.6% of Lendway shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.2% of Village Farms International shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.2% of Lendway shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.5% of Village Farms International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Lendway has a beta of 1.9, suggesting that its share price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Village Farms International has a beta of 2.18, suggesting that its share price is 118% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lendway and Village Farms International’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%
Village Farms International	-15.16%	-8.26%	-5.37%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Lendway and Village Farms International, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lendway	0	0	0	0	0.00
Village Farms International	0	0	1	0	3.00

Village Farms International has a consensus target price of $1.20, suggesting a potential upside of 64.99%. Given Village Farms International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Village Farms International is more favorable than Lendway.

Summary

Village Farms International beats Lendway on 9 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 Village Farms International

Village Farms International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and sells greenhouse-grown tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers in North America. It operates through four segments: Produce, Cannabis-Canada, Cannabis-U.S., and Energy. The company also produces and supplies cannabis products to other licensed providers and provincial governments in Canada and internationally; develops and sells cannabinoid-based health and wellness products, including ingestible, edibles, and topical applications; and produces power. It markets and distributes its products under the Village Farms brand name to retail supermarkets and fresh food distribution companies, as well as products produced under exclusive and non-exclusive arrangements from greenhouse supply partners. The company was formerly known as Village Farms Canada Inc. and changed its name to Village Farms International, Inc. in December 2009. Village Farms International, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Delta, Canada.