Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) and Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Critical Contrast

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) and Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Casey’s General Stores and Sprouts Farmers Market, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Casey’s General Stores	0	5	16	0	2.76
Sprouts Farmers Market	1	6	7	0	2.43

Casey’s General Stores presently has a consensus target price of $835.38, suggesting a potential upside of 21.21%. Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus target price of $90.58, suggesting a potential upside of 38.93%. Given Sprouts Farmers Market’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sprouts Farmers Market is more favorable than Casey’s General Stores.

Profitability

This table compares Casey’s General Stores and Sprouts Farmers Market’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Casey’s General Stores	4.14%	19.68%	8.77%
Sprouts Farmers Market	5.58%	34.84%	11.99%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.6% of Casey’s General Stores shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Casey’s General Stores shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Sprouts Farmers Market shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Casey’s General Stores and Sprouts Farmers Market”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Casey’s General Stores	$17.56 billion	1.45	$714.45 million	$20.76	33.20
Sprouts Farmers Market	$8.81 billion	0.69	$523.67 million	$5.22	12.49

Casey’s General Stores has higher revenue and earnings than Sprouts Farmers Market. Sprouts Farmers Market is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Casey’s General Stores, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Casey’s General Stores has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sprouts Farmers Market has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Casey’s General Stores beats Sprouts Farmers Market on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items. The company was founded by Donald F. Lamberti in 1968 and is headquartered in Ankeny, IA.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retailing of fresh, natural, and organic food products under the Sprouts brand in the United States. It offers perishable product categories, including fresh produce, meat and meat alternatives, seafood, deli, bakery, floral, and dairy and dairy alternatives; and non-perishable product categories, such as grocery, vitamins and supplements, bulk items, frozen foods, beer and wine, and natural health and body care. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. was founded in 1943 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.