Sysco Corporation vs UNITED NATURAL FOODS, INC., two Grocery stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Sysco is the largest US foodservice distributor at $39.9B; United Natural Foods is a $3.1B distributor focused on natural and organic goods for grocery stores. Both move food through the supply chain, but scale and health separate them. Sysco keeps a 2.08% margin and pays a 2.5% dividend, a steady giant. UNFI runs near breakeven on a slight loss, yet throws off a striking 10.68% free cash yield against Sysco's 4.57%, more than double. UNFI trades at just 1.93 times book and carries 1.04 debt-to-equity. Sysco trades at 22.96 times earnings. Sysco is the profitable, dividend-paying leader; United Natural is a lean turnaround generating far more cash than its earnings suggest.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | SYY | UNFI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $83.83 | $48.78 |
| Market cap | $40.3B | $3.1B |
| Sector | Grocery | Grocery |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | -3.5% | +18.3% |
| P/E | 23.2 | — |
| P/B | 17.56 | 1.91 |
| P/S | 0.48 | 0.10 |
| EV/EBITDA | 13.0 | 12.7 |
| Revenue growth | +3.5% | -3.2% |
| Gross margin | 18.6% | 13.6% |
| Operating margin | 3.0% | 0.8% |
| Net margin | 2.1% | -0.1% |
| Return on equity | 75.6% | -2.4% |
| Return on assets | 6.2% | -0.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 15.2% | 1.5% |
| FCF yield | 4.5% | 10.8% |
| Dividend yield | 2.5% | — |
| Debt / equity | 5.58 | 1.04 |
| Current ratio | 1.33 | 1.33 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 9.20 | 5.04 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.