Contrasting Cuisine Solutions (OTCMKTS:CUSI) & United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI)

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) and Cuisine Solutions (OTCMKTS:CUSI) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

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 insiders. Comparatively, 61.1% of Cuisine Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares United Natural Foods and Cuisine Solutions”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Natural Foods	$31.78 billion	0.08	-$118.00 million	($1.66)	-24.52
Cuisine Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for United Natural Foods and Cuisine Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Natural Foods	1	7	3	0	2.18
Cuisine Solutions	0	0	0	0	0.00

United Natural Foods currently has a consensus target price of $38.78, suggesting a potential downside of 4.73%. Given United Natural Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe United Natural Foods is more favorable than Cuisine Solutions.

Volatility & Risk

United Natural Foods has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Cuisine Solutions has a beta of -0.35, suggesting that its share price is 135% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

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

Summary

United Natural Foods beats Cuisine Solutions on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Cuisine Solutions

Cuisine Solutions, Inc. produces and markets various food products in the United States. Its products include beef, lamb, pork and veal, pastas, poultry, sauces, seafood, and vegetarian meals. The company offers its products to foodservice, on board services, retail, military, and national restaurant chain industries. Cuisine Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is based in Sterling, Virginia.