Contrasting Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) & Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Chefs’ Warehouse and Ingles Markets, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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

Chefs’ Warehouse presently has a consensus target price of $114.33, suggesting a potential downside of 0.02%. Given Chefs’ Warehouse’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Chefs’ Warehouse is more favorable than Ingles Markets.

Risk and Volatility

Chefs’ Warehouse has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ingles Markets has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.5% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of Ingles Markets shares are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.8% of Ingles Markets shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

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

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chefs’ Warehouse	$4.15 billion	1.12	$72.36 million	$2.10	54.46
Ingles Markets	$5.33 billion	0.30	$83.59 million	$5.47	15.19

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.

Summary

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

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.

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.