Head to Head Review: United Natural Foods (NASDAQ:UNFI) and AMCON Distributing (NYSE:DIT)

United Natural Foods (NASDAQ:UNFI – Get Rating) and AMCON Distributing (NYSE:DIT – Get Rating) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

85.6% of United Natural Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.8% of AMCON Distributing shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of United Natural Foods shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 72.3% of AMCON Distributing shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares United Natural Foods and AMCON Distributing’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Natural Foods	$28.93 billion	0.05	$248.00 million	$3.11	7.50
AMCON Distributing	$2.01 billion	0.05	$16.67 million	$27.90	6.00

United Natural Foods has higher revenue and earnings than AMCON Distributing. AMCON Distributing is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Natural Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for United Natural Foods and AMCON Distributing, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Natural Foods	0	0	0	0	N/A
AMCON Distributing	0	0	0	0	N/A

Volatility and Risk

United Natural Foods has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMCON Distributing has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares United Natural Foods and AMCON Distributing’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Natural Foods	0.64%	14.45%	3.35%
AMCON Distributing	0.76%	17.69%	5.93%

Summary

AMCON Distributing beats United Natural Foods on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Natural Foods

(Get Rating)

United Natural Foods, Inc. engages in the distribution of natural, organic, and specialty foods and non-food products. The firm operates through the following segments: Wholesale and Retail. The Wholesale segment is engaged in the national distribution of natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products, and providing retail services in the United States and Canada. The Retail segment derives revenues from the sale of groceries and other products at retail locations operated by company. It offers food and non food, frozen, perishables, bulk, body care products, and supplements. The company was founded by Michael S. Funk and Norman A. Cloutier in July 1976 and is headquartered in Providence, RI.

About AMCON Distributing

(Get Rating)

AMCON Distributing Co. engages in the distribution of consumer products. It operates through the following segments: Wholesale Distribution, Retail Health Food, and Other. The Wholesale Distribution segment distributes consumer products and provides a full range of programs and services to customers that are focused on helping to manage business and increase profitability. The Retail Health Food segment operates nineteen health food retail stores located throughout the Midwest and Florida. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Omaha, NE.