The Moat Index

SENECA FOODS CORPORATION

SENEA · Consumer Staples · $1.2B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · No moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

17/ 100
No moat

The four filters

Pricing power0

Median gross margin 9.9% over 10y, variable.

Returns on capital14

Median ROIC 6.5%, above the 9% hurdle in 20% of years.

Balance-sheet safety19

Net debt/EBITDA 2.7x, interest coverage 2x.

Capital discipline45

Owner earnings -3.7%/yr, share count shrinking (buybacks).

Margin of safety

Above valueOn sale
119% above value
Owner earnings (normalized)
$48.8M
Est. intrinsic value / share
$77.65
Recent price
$170.09
Discount to value
119% above value

Conservative model: 9% discount rate, 0% assumed growth (capped at 4%), maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A).

17 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

SENECA FOODS CORPORATION booked $1.6B of revenue in FY2025 in the Consumer Staples sector and kept 9.5% of it as gross profit — a thin-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, 2.6% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $1.3B (FY2010) to $1.6B (FY2025) — about 1.4% a year compounded over 15 years.

It earned 6.1% on invested capital in FY2025, with a median of 4.2% across 15 filed years. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 14/100.

The balance sheet carried $369.9M of total debt in FY2025 against $48.8M of owner earnings — roughly 7.6 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 19/100.

The share count fell 40.0% between FY2011 and FY2025 — management has been retiring shares, which concentrates each remaining owner's claim. Capital Discipline scores it 45/100.

Put together: Capital Discipline is the strongest of the four filters (45/100) and Pricing Power the weakest (0/100), which is how SENEA lands at 17/100 — a None moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2009–FY2025 · 17 fiscal years, normalized from SENEA’s SEC filings

RevenueSales, as filed$1.6B FY2025
$0$1B2009201520212025
Gross marginRevenue kept after cost of goods9.5% FY2025
0%10%2009201520212025
Return on invested capitalOperating profit on the capital employed6.1% FY2025
0%20%2009201520212025
Owner earningsCash an owner could take out$48.8M FY2025
$0$100M2009201520212025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in SENEA’s filings for that year — the series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Moat Score history

3 logged readings since Jul 17, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale16.8 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026

Score history begins Jul 17, 2026 — the record builds from here and can’t be backfilled.

Tier changesSame-methodology crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

None yet — SENEA has read No moat for every logged capture since Jul 17, 2026.

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record can’t be backfilled, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Consumer Staples context

#60 of 66 scored Consumer Staples companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #58UTZ Utz Brands, Inc.20.3 out of 100, No moatNo moat
  2. #59RMCF Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc.18.5 out of 100, No moatNo moat
  3. #61SOWG SOW GOOD INC.16.8 out of 100, No moatNo moat
  4. #62XXII 22nd Century Group, Inc.15.8 out of 100, No moatNo moat

Compare SENEA with its nearest peersAll Consumer Staples companies on the Index →

Common questions about SENEA

Does SENECA FOODS CORPORATION have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores SENECA FOODS CORPORATION (SENEA) 16.8 out of 100 — below the Shallow-moat bar, so no moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 0, returns on capital 14, balance-sheet safety 19, capital discipline 45.
Is SENEA stock trading below its intrinsic value?
Against a deliberately conservative owner-earnings model (9% discount rate, 0% assumed growth, capped at 4%), estimated intrinsic value is $77.65 per share versus a recent price of $170.09 — 119% above value. This is an educational estimate computed from primary SEC filings, not investment advice.
How has SENEA's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 3 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 16.8 out of 100 (no moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.
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SENECA FOODS CORPORATION (SENEA) Moat Score — The Moat Index · Buy Like Buffett