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

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.7% of Innovative Food shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.6% of Casey’s General Stores shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.5% of Innovative Food shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Casey’s General Stores shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

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

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

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Innovative Food and Casey’s General Stores”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Innovative Food	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.14)	-1.66
Casey’s General Stores	$17.56 billion	1.62	$714.45 million	$19.16	40.03

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.

Profitability

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

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

Summary

Casey’s General Stores beats Innovative Food on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.