Comparing Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) & Nocera (NASDAQ:NCRA)

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) and Nocera (NASDAQ:NCRA) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Chefs’ Warehouse and Nocera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chefs’ Warehouse	1.74%	14.75%	4.38%
Nocera	-24.59%	-81.74%	-69.13%

Risk and Volatility

Chefs’ Warehouse has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nocera has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.6% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.3% of Nocera shares are held by institutional investors. 11.5% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of Nocera shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chefs’ Warehouse and Nocera”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chefs’ Warehouse	$4.15 billion	0.62	$72.36 million	$1.65	38.05
Nocera	$17.01 million	0.20	-$2.35 million	($0.24)	-1.00

Chefs’ Warehouse has higher revenue and earnings than Nocera. Nocera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chefs’ Warehouse, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Chefs’ Warehouse and Nocera, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chefs’ Warehouse	1	1	5	0	2.57
Nocera	1	0	0	0	1.00

Chefs’ Warehouse presently has a consensus target price of $77.67, indicating a potential upside of 23.71%. Given Chefs’ Warehouse’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Chefs’ Warehouse is more favorable than Nocera.

Summary

Chefs’ Warehouse beats Nocera on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chefs’ Warehouse

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada. The company’s product portfolio includes specialty food products, such as artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate, and pastry products; and center-of-the-plate products consisting of custom cut beef, seafood, and hormone-free poultry, as well as broadline food products comprising cooking oils, butter, eggs, milk, and flour. The company serves menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolatiers, cruise lines, casinos, and specialty food stores. It markets its center-of-the-plate products directly to consumers through a mail and e-commerce platform. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

About Nocera

Nocera, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and produces recirculating aquaculture systems for fish farms in Taiwan. The company also offers consulting, technology transfer, and aquaculture project management services to new and existing aquaculture management business services. In addition, the company sells signature seafood porridge bowl through its flagship bento box store. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan.