US Foods (NYSE:USFD) and Danone (OTCMKTS:DANOY) Critical Survey

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) and Danone (OTCMKTS:DANOY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.8% of US Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Danone shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of US Foods shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Danone shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares US Foods and Danone’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
US Foods	1.71%	19.37%	6.14%
Danone	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares US Foods and Danone”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
US Foods	$39.68 billion	0.46	$676.00 million	$2.97	27.72
Danone	$30.86 billion	1.57	$2.06 billion	N/A	N/A

Danone has lower revenue, but higher earnings than US Foods.

Risk and Volatility

US Foods has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Danone has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for US Foods and Danone, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
US Foods	0	3	10	0	2.77
Danone	1	2	2	1	2.50

US Foods presently has a consensus price target of $106.75, suggesting a potential upside of 29.68%. Given US Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe US Foods is more favorable than Danone.

Summary

US Foods beats Danone on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About US Foods

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations. The company was formerly known as USF Holding Corp. and changed its name to US Foods Holding Corp. in February 2016. US Foods Holding Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.

About Danone

Danone S.A. operates in the food and beverage industry in Europe, Ukraine, North America, China, North Asia, the Oceania, Latin America, rest of Asia, Africa, Turkey, the Middle East, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The company operates through Essential Dairy & Plant-Based, Specialized Nutrition, and Waters segments. It produces and distributes yogurts, dairy products, coffee creamers and drinks, beverages, plant-based products, ice creams, frozen desserts, and cheese products under the Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette, Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, Danone, Light & Fit, Oikos, YoPRO, International Delight, SToK, Silk, Follow Your Heart, and So Delicious. The company also provides specialized nutrition, including formulas and complementary feeding for babies and young children; and special medical purposes food for children and adults under the Aptamil, Nutrilon, Gallia, Cow & Gate, Bebelac, and Blédina brands. In addition, it offers tube feeding products under the Nutrison name; and oral nutritional supplements under the Fortimel and NutriDrink names. Further, the company provides mineral waters from natural sources, waters infused with natural fruit extracts, fruit juices, and vitamins under the evian, Volvic, AQUA, Mizone, Bonafont, Salus, Hayat, Sirma, Font Vella, Lanjarón, and Zywiec Zdroj brands. It distributes its products through retail chains and traditional market outlets; convenience stores; hotels, restaurants, and coffee outlets; hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies; and e-commerce channels. The company was formerly known as Groupe Danone and changed its name to Danone S.A. in April 2009. Danone S.A. was incorporated in 1899 and is headquartered in Paris, France.