Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA – Get Free Report) and US Foods (NYSE:USFD – Get Free Report) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
42.5% of Seneca Foods shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.8% of US Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 8.4% of Seneca Foods shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of US Foods shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Seneca Foods and US Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Seneca Foods | 2.76% | 10.07% | 4.96% |
| US Foods | 1.43% | 16.86% | 5.70% |
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Seneca Foods | $1.58 billion | 0.46 | $41.22 million | $6.23 | 16.93 |
| US Foods | $37.88 billion | 0.47 | $494.00 million | $2.34 | 33.59 |
US Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Seneca Foods. Seneca Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than US Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Seneca Foods and US Foods, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Seneca Foods | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| US Foods | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 3.08 |
US Foods has a consensus price target of $80.5455, indicating a potential upside of 2.48%. Given US Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe US Foods is more favorable than Seneca Foods.
Risk and Volatility
Seneca Foods has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, US Foods has a beta of 1.44, suggesting that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
US Foods beats Seneca Foods on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Seneca Foods
Seneca Foods Corporation provides packaged fruits and vegetables in the United States and internationally. The company offers canned, frozen, and jarred produce; jarred fruit; and snack chips and other food products under the private label, as well as under various national and regional brands that the company owns or licenses, including Seneca, Libby’s, Aunt Nellie’s, Cherryman, Green Valley, and READ. In addition, it packs canned and frozen vegetables under contract packing agreements. Further, the company engages in the sale of cans, ends, and seeds, as well as trucking and aircraft operations. It provides its products to grocery outlets, including supermarkets, mass merchandisers, limited assortment stores, club stores, and dollar stores; specialty retailers; and food service distributors, restaurant chains, industrial markets, other food packagers, and export customers in approximately 55 countries, as well as federal, state, and local governments for school and other feeding programs. Seneca Foods Corporation was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in Fairport, New York.
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.
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