Critical Contrast: United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) versus Amcon Distributing (NASDAQ:DIT)

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

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amcon Distributing	$2.71 billion	0.03	$4.34 million	$5.96	19.97
United Natural Foods	$30.98 billion	0.06	-$112.00 million	($1.57)	-19.34

Amcon Distributing has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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.

Risk and Volatility

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amcon Distributing	0.13%	3.27%	0.95%
United Natural Foods	-0.30%	1.27%	0.27%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Amcon Distributing and United Natural Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.

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

United Natural Foods has a consensus target price of $25.20, indicating a potential downside of 16.99%. Given United Natural Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe United Natural Foods is more favorable than Amcon Distributing.

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.

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.