ACI vs NGVC vs VLGEA Stock Comparison

Albertsons Companies, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage and Village Super Market Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage 5, Village Super Market 3, Albertsons Companies 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACINGVCVLGEALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.31B $660.64M $616.76M ACI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 194.1x 13.9x 11.8x VLGEA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 14.3x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -5.1% +2.0% — NGVC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.0% 3.5% — NGVC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 4.2% 21.0% — NGVC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.2x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -30.0% -26.0% +35.5% VLGEA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -16.2%/yr +18.6%/yr +13.9%/yr NGVC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 39.7% 41.4% 34.4% VLGEA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 69/100 67/100 NGVC

Percentile Scorecard

ACINGVCVLGEA

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACINGVCVLGEA
Valuation 64 #15 of 40 69 #13 of 40 85 #7 of 40
Growth 3 #37 of 38 68 #13 of 38 30 #27 of 38
Profitability 23 #28 of 36 69 #12 of 36 –
Financial Health 3 #39 of 40 74 #11 of 40 82 #8 of 40
Shareholder Returns 89 #4 of 28 67 #10 of 28 70 #9 of 28
Overall 36 69 67
  • ACI ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • NGVC ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • VLGEA ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACINGVCVLGEASPY
1 month +9.8%-6.0%-6.6% +0.7%
3 months +10.3%-11.1%-3.1% +3.7%
6 months -24.2%-1.3%-1.1% +7.1%
Year to date -25.6%+14.1%+20.4% +12.8%
1 year -30.0%-26.0%+35.5% +11.9%
3 years -41.2%+136.6%+74.9% +85.2%
3 years, per year -16.2%+33.3%+20.5% +22.8%
5 years -58.7%+134.6%+91.3% +67.6%
5 years, per year -16.2%+18.6%+13.9% +10.9%
10 years —+138.0%+41.9% +262.0%
10 years, per year —+9.1%+3.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureACINGVCVLGEASPY
Volatility, 1Y 39.7%41.4%34.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.6%43.8%40.0% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.24-0.34-0.33 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.76-0.631.03 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -70.1%-64.1%-22.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -31.5%-26.0%-9.7% -1.2%
52-week high $18.66$38.61$47.17 $779.14
52-week low $11.02$23.71$31.37 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACINGVCVLGEA
P/E now vs peer median 190.5xmedian 22.1x 13.8xmedian 22.1x 11.7xmedian 22.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.5x 0.5xmedian 0.5x 0.3xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.5x 6.7xmedian 9.5x —median 9.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 16.0x 29.0xmedian 16.0x 11.1xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 2.8x 2.8xmedian 2.8x 1.2xmedian 2.8x
PEG now vs peer median -2.74median 1.07 0.41median 1.07 6.63median 1.07

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACINGVCVLGEA
Revenue $77.19B $1.34B –
Gross profit $20.93B $398.34M –
Operating income $452.80M $63.25M –
Net income $32.50M $47.64M $52.45M
Free cash flow – $22.71M $55.06M
EPS (diluted) $0.07 $2.05 $2.83
Cash & equivalents $282.00M $17.47M $130.84M
Total debt $35.41B $1.45M $54.75M
Shares (diluted) 488.20M 23.26M 18.53M
Enterprise value $5.36B $582.12M $79.45M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACINGVCVLGEA
P/E 190.5x 13.8x 11.7x
P/FCF 11.3x 29.0x 11.1x
P/Operating cash flow – 9.3x 5.6x
P/S 0.1x 0.5x 0.3x
P/B 4.2x 2.8x 1.2x
P/Tangible book -10.2x 2.8x 1.2x
EV/EBITDA – 6.7x –
EV/EBIT 33.3x 10.2x –
EV/Revenue 0.2x 0.5x –
EV/FCF – 28.3x 9.8x
EV/Operating cash flow – 9.1x 4.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.74 0.41 6.63

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACINGVCVLGEA
Revenue growth (1Y) -5.1% 2.0% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.7% 6.3% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -5.9% 1.0% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -1.5% 7.8% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -70.6% 8.0% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -40.0% 31.9% –
Net income growth (1Y) -96.7% 9.1% -7.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -71.3% 34.6% 1.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -96.2% 9.4% -7.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -69.5% 33.9% 1.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 10.2% 16.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 15.1% 1.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -34.2% 59.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 27.4% -1.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACINGVCVLGEA
Gross margin 27.1% 29.6% –
EBITDA margin – 7.1% –
Operating margin 0.6% 4.7% –
Pretax margin 0.0% 4.5% –
Net margin 0.0% 3.5% –
FCF margin – 1.7% –
Operating cash flow margin – 5.3% –
Return on equity 2.0% 20.3% –
Return on assets 0.1% 6.9% –
Return on invested capital 4.2% 21.0% –
Return on capital employed 2.5% 12.0% –
Asset turnover 2.9x 2.0x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.5x 2.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACINGVCVLGEA
Debt / assets 34.3% 0.2% 5.3%
Debt / equity 6.5x 0.0x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.2x –
Debt / FCF – 0.1x 1.0x
Liabilities / assets 94.7% 65.2% 49.0%
Equity / assets 5.3% 34.8% 51.0%
Interest coverage – 23.4x –
Current ratio 0.8x 1.1x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.1x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 3.03 3.52 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACINGVCVLGEA
Dividend yield 5.2% 2.1% 2.3%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 5.2% 2.1% 2.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 27.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 57.8% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 24.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 13.0% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACINGVCVLGEA
Forward P/E – 14.3xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year – $2.00FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY – -7.8%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +19.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year – $1.40BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY – +5.2%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after – +0.8% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACINGVCVLGEA
Held by institutions 93.5% 40.0% 66.9%
Institutions holding 447 158 151
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +6.1% +2.8%
Institutions buying 234 90 79
Institutions selling 163 39 40
Buyers to sellers 1.44 2.31 1.98

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACINGVCVLGEA
ACI 1.00 0.39 0.29
NGVC 0.39 1.00 0.34
VLGEA 0.29 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACI, NGVC and VLGEA?

Albertsons Companies (ACI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Albertsons Companies (ACI) $6.31B, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) $660.64M, Village Super Market (VLGEA) $616.76M.

Which stock is cheaper, ACI, NGVC and VLGEA?

Village Super Market (VLGEA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Albertsons Companies (ACI) 194.1x, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 13.9x, Village Super Market (VLGEA) 11.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Albertsons Companies (ACI) -5.1%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) +2.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) has the highest net margin (Albertsons Companies (ACI) 0.0%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 3.5%). On return on invested capital, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) leads (Albertsons Companies (ACI) 4.2%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 21.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Village Super Market (VLGEA) returned the most: Albertsons Companies (ACI) -30.0%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) -26.0%, Village Super Market (VLGEA) +35.5%. Over five years, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) compounded fastest (Albertsons Companies (ACI) -16.2%/yr, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) +18.6%/yr, Village Super Market (VLGEA) +13.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Albertsons Companies (ACI) 0.00%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 0.02%, Village Super Market (VLGEA) 0.00%. Albertsons Companies (ACI) and Village Super Market (VLGEA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Village Super Market (VLGEA) has been the steadiest (Albertsons Companies (ACI) 39.7%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 41.4%, Village Super Market (VLGEA) 34.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACI, NGVC and VLGEA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.