Head-To-Head Contrast: Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) vs. Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.5% of Ingles Markets shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are held by institutional investors. 22.8% of Ingles Markets shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Ingles Markets has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chefs’ Warehouse has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ingles Markets	1.92%	6.30%	4.01%
Chefs’ Warehouse	2.09%	16.95%	5.19%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ingles Markets and Chefs’ Warehouse”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ingles Markets	$5.42 billion	0.29	$83.59 million	$5.47	15.01
Chefs’ Warehouse	$4.39 billion	1.07	$72.36 million	$2.10	54.76

Ingles Markets has higher revenue and earnings than Chefs’ Warehouse. Ingles Markets is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chefs’ Warehouse, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Ingles Markets and Chefs’ Warehouse, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ingles Markets	0	0	1	0	3.00
Chefs’ Warehouse	0	1	5	1	3.00

Chefs’ Warehouse has a consensus target price of $114.33, suggesting a potential downside of 0.58%. Given Chefs’ Warehouse’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Chefs’ Warehouse is more favorable than Ingles Markets.

Summary

Chefs’ Warehouse beats Ingles Markets on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ingles Markets

Ingles Markets, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, operates a chain of supermarkets in the southeast United States. It offers food products, including grocery, meat and dairy products, produce, frozen foods, and other perishables; and non-food products, which include fuel centers, pharmacies, health and beauty care products, and general merchandise, as well as private label items. The company owns and operates a milk processing and packaging plant that supplies organic milk, fruit juices, and bottled water products to other retailers, food service distributors, and grocery warehouses. In addition, it provides home meal replacement items, delicatessens, bakeries, floral departments, and greeting cards, as well as broad selections of local organic, beverage, and health-related items. The company operates under the Ingles and Sav-Mor brand names. Ingles Markets, Incorporated was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina.

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.