GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) and Performance Food Group (NYSE:PFGC) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitabiliy, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
79.5% of GNC Holdings shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of Performance Food Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of GNC Holdings shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Performance Food Group shares are held by 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.
Volatility & Risk
GNC Holdings has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Performance Food Group has a beta of -0.31, indicating that its share price is 131% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
GNC Holdings pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Performance Food Group does not pay a dividend. GNC Holdings pays out -7.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. GNC Holdings has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for GNC Holdings and Performance Food Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| GNC Holdings | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.29 |
| Performance Food Group | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2.60 |
GNC Holdings currently has a consensus price target of $9.67, suggesting a potential upside of 5.42%. Performance Food Group has a consensus price target of $27.98, suggesting a potential upside of 3.80%. Given GNC Holdings’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe GNC Holdings is more favorable than Performance Food Group.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares GNC Holdings and Performance Food Group’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| GNC Holdings | $2.48 billion | 0.25 | $278.86 million | ($5.30) | -1.73 |
| Performance Food Group | $16.71 billion | 0.17 | $321.40 million | $0.83 | 32.47 |
Performance Food Group has higher revenue and earnings than GNC Holdings. GNC Holdings is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Performance Food Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares GNC Holdings and Performance Food Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| GNC Holdings | -14.56% | 285.93% | 4.49% |
| Performance Food Group | 0.51% | 13.92% | 3.26% |
Summary
Performance Food Group beats GNC Holdings on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About GNC Holdings
GNC Holdings, Inc. is a specialty retailer of health, wellness and performance products, which include protein, performance supplements, weight management supplements, vitamins, herbs and greens, wellness supplements, health and beauty, food and drink and other general merchandise. The Company’s operations consist of purchasing raw materials, formulating and manufacturing products and selling the finished products. It operates in three segments: U.S. and Canada, International and Manufacturing/Wholesale. Its U.S. and Canada segment generates revenues primarily from sales of products to customers at its Company-owned stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, through its Websites, GNC.com and LuckyVitamin.com. Its International segment generates revenue primarily to its international franchisees. Its Manufacturing/Wholesale segment comprises its manufacturing operations in South Carolina and its wholesale partner relationships.
About Performance Food Group
Performance Food Group Company, through its subsidiaries, markets and distributes food and food-related products. The Company operates through three segments: Performance Foodservice, PFG Customized and Vistar. The Performance Foodservice segment distributes a range of national brands, customer brands, and branded food and food-related products. It sells to independent or street, and multi-unit or chain, restaurants and other institutions. Its PFG Customized segment provides service to family and casual dining restaurant chains, and fast casual and quick service restaurant chains. Its Vistar segment specializes in distributing candy, snacks, beverages and other items nationally to the vending, office coffee service, theater, hospitality and other channels. Its products include a range of frozen foods, such as meats, fully prepared appetizers and entrees, and desserts; a range of canned and dry foods; fresh meats; dairy products; beverage products, and snack and other products.
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