Head-To-Head Comparison: Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) vs. Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART)

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) and Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.6% of Casey’s General Stores shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.1% of Maplebear shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Casey’s General Stores shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.0% of Maplebear shares are owned by company 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Casey’s General Stores and Maplebear, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Casey’s General Stores	0	5	16	0	2.76
Maplebear	0	14	7	0	2.33

Casey’s General Stores presently has a consensus target price of $835.38, indicating a potential upside of 18.22%. Maplebear has a consensus target price of $59.12, indicating a potential upside of 1.09%. Given Casey’s General Stores’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Casey’s General Stores is more favorable than Maplebear.

Profitability

This table compares Casey’s General Stores and Maplebear’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%
Maplebear	11.59%	22.14%	15.17%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Casey’s General Stores and Maplebear”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	1.49	$714.45 million	$20.76	34.04
Maplebear	$3.74 billion	3.70	$447.00 million	$1.92	30.46

Casey’s General Stores has higher revenue and earnings than Maplebear. Maplebear 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.

Risk and Volatility

Casey’s General Stores has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Maplebear has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: CASY) is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods. The company’s stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.

About Maplebear

Maplebear Inc., which operates as Instacart, provides an online grocery and retail marketplace in the United States and Canada. Its platform connects customers with local grocery stores and other retailers, enabling them to order products for delivery or pickup. In addition to its consumer app and website, Instacart offers retailers technology and services for online ordering, fulfillment and digital advertising. The company was founded in 2012 and is led by CEO Fidji Simo.