Comparing United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) and Amcon Distributing (NASDAQ:DIT)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares United Natural Foods and Amcon Distributing”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Natural Foods	$30.98 billion	0.05	-$112.00 million	($1.57)	-17.40
Amcon Distributing	$2.71 billion	0.03	$4.34 million	$5.96	19.63

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.6% of United Natural Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.1% of Amcon Distributing shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of United Natural Foods shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 73.0% of Amcon Distributing shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

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	-0.30%	1.27%	0.27%
Amcon Distributing	0.13%	3.29%	0.98%

Risk and Volatility

United Natural Foods has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amcon Distributing has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for United Natural Foods and Amcon Distributing, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Natural Foods	1	5	1	0	2.00
Amcon Distributing	0	0	0	0	0.00

United Natural Foods currently has a consensus price target of $25.20, suggesting a potential downside of 7.73%. Given United Natural Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe United Natural Foods is more favorable than Amcon Distributing.

About United Natural Foods

United Natural Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products. It also provides nuts, dried fruit, seeds, trail mixes, granola, natural and organic snack items, and confections under the Woodstock Farms Manufacturing name; organic, non-GMO project verified, and specialty food and non-food items under the Blue Marble brand name; pet food under the WILD HARVEST brand name; and various products under the ESSENTIAL EVERYDAY, SHOPPERS VALUE, Field Day, EQUALINE, CULINARY CIRCLE, and STONE RIDGE CREAMERY brand names. In addition, the company provides home, health and beauty care, and pharmacy products, as well as private label products through a network of Cub Foods and Shoppers retail grocery stores; and retail store support, pricing strategy, shelf and planogram management, advertising, couponing, ecommerce, consumer convenience, store design, equipment sourcing, electronic payments processing, network and data hosting, point-of-sale hardware and software, automation tools, sustainability, and administrative back-office solution services. Further, it offers consumer and trade marketing programs, and programs to support suppliers in understanding its markets. The company serves chains, independent retailers, and supernatural chains, as well as foodservice, ecommerce, conventional military business, and other sales customers. United Natural Foods, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

About Amcon Distributing

AMCON Distributing Co. engages in the distribution of consumer products. It operates through the Wholesale Distribution (Wholesale) and Retail Health Food (Retail) segments. The Wholesale segment refers to the wholesale distribution of consumer products. The Retail segment focuses on the sale of health and natural food products. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Omaha, NE.