Contrasting Kerry Group (OTCMKTS:KRYAY) and United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI)

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) and Kerry Group (OTCMKTS:KRYAY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for United Natural Foods and Kerry Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Natural Foods	1	7	2	0	2.10
Kerry Group	0	1	3	0	2.75

United Natural Foods presently has a consensus target price of $41.63, indicating a potential upside of 4.24%. Given United Natural Foods’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe United Natural Foods is more favorable than Kerry Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.6% of United Natural Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Kerry Group shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of United Natural Foods shares are held 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.

Volatility & Risk

United Natural Foods has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Kerry Group has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Natural Foods	-0.25%	6.05%	1.27%
Kerry Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares United Natural Foods and Kerry Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Natural Foods	$31.78 billion	0.08	-$118.00 million	($1.30)	-30.72
Kerry Group	$7.64 billion	1.59	$745.03 million	N/A	N/A

Kerry Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than United Natural Foods.

Summary

United Natural Foods beats Kerry Group on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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 Kerry Group

Kerry Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides taste and nutrition solutions. The company operates in two segments, Taste & Nutrition, and Dairy Ireland. The Taste & Nutrition segment offers taste and nutrition solutions for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical markets. The Dairy Ireland segment provides value-add dairy ingredients and consumer products, including functional proteins and nutritional bases. It operates in Ireland, rest of Europe, the Americas, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Kerry Group plc was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Tralee, Ireland.