Contrasting Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) and J. Sainsbury (OTCMKTS:JSAIY)

J. Sainsbury (OTCMKTS:JSAIY) and Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for J. Sainsbury and Chefs’ Warehouse, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
J. Sainsbury	1	4	1	0	2.00
Chefs’ Warehouse	0	4	4	0	2.50

Chefs’ Warehouse has a consensus target price of $107.43, indicating a potential downside of 6.87%. Given Chefs’ Warehouse’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Chefs’ Warehouse is more favorable than J. Sainsbury.

Risk and Volatility

J. Sainsbury has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chefs’ Warehouse has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares J. Sainsbury and Chefs’ Warehouse’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
J. Sainsbury	N/A	N/A	N/A
Chefs’ Warehouse	2.09%	16.95%	5.19%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.5% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.1% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares J. Sainsbury and Chefs’ Warehouse”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
J. Sainsbury	$45.10 billion	0.24	$526.74 million	N/A	N/A
Chefs’ Warehouse	$4.15 billion	1.13	$72.36 million	$2.10	54.93

J. Sainsbury has higher revenue and earnings than Chefs’ Warehouse.

Summary

Chefs’ Warehouse beats J. Sainsbury on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About J. Sainsbury

J Sainsbury plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food, general merchandise and clothing retailing, and financial services activities in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It operates through three segments: Retail Food, Retail General Merchandise and Clothing, and Financial Services. The company operates various store formats, including convenience stores and supermarkets. It is also involved in the online grocery and general merchandise operations. In addition, it offers financial services, such as credit cards, scorecards, and personal loans; and home, car, pet, travel, and life insurance products. J Sainsbury plc was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Chefs’ Warehouse

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada. The company’s product portfolio includes specialty food products, such as artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate, and pastry products; and center-of-the-plate products consisting of custom cut beef, seafood, and hormone-free poultry, as well as broadline food products comprising cooking oils, butter, eggs, milk, and flour. The company serves menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolatiers, cruise lines, casinos, and specialty food stores. It markets its center-of-the-plate products directly to consumers through a mail and e-commerce platform. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Ridgefield, Connecticut.