Critical Contrast: Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) & Innovative Food (OTCMKTS:IVFH)

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) and Innovative Food (OTCMKTS:IVFH) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Casey’s General Stores and Innovative Food, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Casey’s General Stores	0	6	14	0	2.70
Innovative Food	0	0	0	0	0.00

Casey’s General Stores currently has a consensus target price of $942.87, indicating a potential upside of 22.94%. Given Casey’s General Stores’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Casey’s General Stores is more favorable than Innovative Food.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

85.6% of Casey’s General Stores shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.7% of Innovative Food shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Casey’s General Stores shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of Innovative Food shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Casey’s General Stores and Innovative Food’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Casey’s General Stores	4.07%	18.73%	8.29%
Innovative Food	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Casey’s General Stores and Innovative Food”s 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	1.62	$714.45 million	$19.16	40.03
Innovative Food	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.14)	-1.66

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

Summary

Casey’s General Stores beats Innovative Food on 10 of the 11 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 Innovative Food

Innovative Food Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and food related products to restaurants, hotels, country clubs, national chain accounts, casinos, hospitals, and catering houses in the United States. The company distributes perishable and specialty food and food related products, including origin-specific seafood, domestic and imported meats, exotic game and poultry, artisanal cheeses, freshly prepared meals, caviar, wild and cultivated mushrooms, micro-greens, organic farmed and manufactured food products, estate-bottled olive oils and aged vinegars, and curated food gift baskets and gift boxes, as well as a full range of food subscription based offerings. It also provides a line of specialty healthcare related products; and customer service and logistics services. In addition, the company offers its products through business to business and other e-commerce channels, as well as websites comprising www.igourmet.com and www.mouth.com; and directly from its network of vendors and warehouses. Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. is based in Bonita Springs, Florida.