Reviewing Premier Foods (OTCMKTS:PRRFY) and United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI)

Premier Foods (OTCMKTS:PRRFY) and United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) are both mid-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Premier Foods and United Natural Foods”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Premier Foods	$1.45 billion	1.56	$159.36 million	N/A	N/A
United Natural Foods	$31.78 billion	0.07	-$118.00 million	($1.66)	-23.36

Premier Foods has higher earnings, but lower revenue than United Natural Foods.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Premier Foods and United Natural Foods, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Premier Foods	0	1	0	0	2.00
United Natural Foods	1	7	3	0	2.18

United Natural Foods has a consensus target price of $38.78, indicating a potential upside of 0.02%. Given United Natural Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe United Natural Foods is more favorable than Premier Foods.

Profitability

This table compares Premier Foods and United Natural Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Premier Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
United Natural Foods	-0.32%	4.35%	0.90%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.6% of United Natural Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of United Natural Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Premier Foods has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Natural Foods has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Summary

United Natural Foods beats Premier Foods on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Premier Foods

Premier Foods plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes branded and own label food products in the United Kingdom, other European countries, and internationally. The company operates through Grocery, Sweet Treats, and international segments. It offers a portfolio of product categories, including flavorings and seasonings under the Bisto, OXO, Paxo, and Saxa brands; cooking sauces and accompaniments under the Sharwood's, Loyd Grossman, Spice Tailor and Homepride brands; quick meals, snacks, and soups under the Batchelors and Smash brands; ambient desserts under the Ambrosia, Bird's, and Angel Delight brands; and ambient cakes under the Mr Kipling and Cadbury brands. The company also provides dumplings under the Atora brand name; plain flour under the Be-Ro brand; dried milk under the Marvel brand name; plain and self-raising flour under the McDougalls brand; and plant based food under the Plantastic brand name. It offers its products through supermarkets, discounters, convenience stores, and wholesale and food service facilities, as well as through e-commerce channels. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Saint Albans, the United Kingdom.

About United Natural Foods

United Natural Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products. It also provides nuts, dried fruit, seeds, trail mixes, granola, natural and organic snack items, and confections under the Woodstock Farms Manufacturing name; organic, non-GMO project verified, and specialty food and non-food items under the Blue Marble brand name; pet food under the WILD HARVEST brand name; and various products under the ESSENTIAL EVERYDAY, SHOPPERS VALUE, Field Day, EQUALINE, CULINARY CIRCLE, and STONE RIDGE CREAMERY brand names. In addition, the company provides home, health and beauty care, and pharmacy products, as well as private label products through a network of Cub Foods and Shoppers retail grocery stores; and retail store support, pricing strategy, shelf and planogram management, advertising, couponing, ecommerce, consumer convenience, store design, equipment sourcing, electronic payments processing, network and data hosting, point-of-sale hardware and software, automation tools, sustainability, and administrative back-office solution services. Further, it offers consumer and trade marketing programs, and programs to support suppliers in understanding its markets. The company serves chains, independent retailers, and supernatural chains, as well as foodservice, ecommerce, conventional military business, and other sales customers. United Natural Foods, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.