Head to Head Analysis: Lendway (NASDAQ:LDWY) vs. S&W Seed (NASDAQ:SANW)

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

Volatility & Risk

Lendway has a beta of 1.97, meaning that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, S&W Seed has a beta of 1.88, meaning that its stock price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lendway and S&W Seed”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lendway	$31.58 million	0.20	$2.41 million	($1.98)	-1.84
S&W Seed	$54.81 million	0.32	-$30.03 million	($15.61)	-0.52

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Lendway and S&W Seed, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lendway	0	0	0	0	0.00
S&W Seed	0	0	1	0	3.00

S&W Seed has a consensus price target of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 330.50%. Given S&W Seed’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe S&W Seed is more favorable than Lendway.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

6.6% of Lendway shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.7% of S&W Seed shares are held by institutional investors. 13.2% of Lendway shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.4% of S&W Seed 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 S&W Seed’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%
S&W Seed	-76.30%	-51.47%	-18.21%

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 S&W Seed

S&W Seed Co. engages in the breeding, production, and sale of stevia and alfalfa seeds. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Longmont, CO.