Reviewing Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) & Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG)

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) and Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) are both mid-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Chefs’ Warehouse and Conagra Brands”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chefs’ Warehouse	$4.15 billion	0.63	$72.36 million	$1.65	39.15
Conagra Brands	$11.18 billion	0.66	$1.15 billion	($0.10)	-155.23

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

Profitability

This table compares Chefs’ Warehouse and Conagra Brands’ 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%
Conagra Brands	-0.39%	10.15%	4.28%

Risk & Volatility

Chefs’ Warehouse has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Conagra Brands has a beta of 0.04, meaning that its share price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Chefs’ Warehouse and Conagra Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chefs’ Warehouse	1	2	4	0	2.43
Conagra Brands	4	12	1	0	1.82

Chefs’ Warehouse presently has a consensus target price of $77.67, suggesting a potential upside of 20.25%. Conagra Brands has a consensus target price of $16.07, suggesting a potential upside of 3.50%. Given Chefs’ Warehouse’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Chefs’ Warehouse is more favorable than Conagra Brands.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.6% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.8% of Conagra Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.9% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Conagra Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Chefs’ Warehouse beats Conagra Brands on 11 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 Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer packaged goods food company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice segments. The Grocery & Snacks segment primarily offers shelf stable food products through various retail channels. The Refrigerated & Frozen segment provides temperature-controlled food products through various retail channels. The International segment offers food products in various temperature states through retail and foodservice channels outside of the United States. The Foodservice segment offers branded and customized food products, including meals, entrees, sauces, and various custom-manufactured culinary products packaged for restaurants and other foodservice establishments. The company sells its products under the Birds Eye, Marie Callender's, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, Angie's, BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera brands. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.