Village Super Mkt Stock Price, News & Analysis

Village Super Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLGEA) operates a chain of supermarkets and specialty food stores in the Retail Trade sector, within the supermarket and grocery store industry. The company focuses on the retail sale of food and nonfood products and is a member of Wakefern Food Corporation, a retailer-owned food cooperative and owner of the ShopRite name, according to prior company descriptions. Village Super Market’s operations are reported as one operating segment centered on supermarket retailing.

Village Super Market operates 34 supermarkets under the ShopRite and Fairway banners in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania, as stated in multiple company news releases. In addition, the company runs three Gourmet Garage specialty markets in New York City. These locations collectively form the company’s store base, which includes replacement stores and remodeled stores referenced in its earnings announcements.

The company’s business model is built around supermarket retailing, with sales derived from food and nonfood products sold through its ShopRite and Fairway supermarkets and Gourmet Garage specialty markets. Company disclosures describe growth drivers such as same store sales, same store digital sales, and contributions from replacement stores and remodeled locations. Village Super Market’s results discussions highlight factors such as digital sales growth, pharmacy sales, and changes in product mix as influences on sales and gross profit.

Village Super Market is a member of Wakefern Food Corporation, which the company identifies as its principal supplier and a source of patronage dividends, rebates and warehouse services. Company earnings releases attribute changes in gross profit margins in part to patronage dividends, rebates, warehouse assessment charges, and LIFO charges related to its relationship with Wakefern. The cooperative relationship with Wakefern is therefore an important structural element of Village Super Market’s cost of goods and gross margin profile.

In its financial communications, Village Super Market regularly discusses same store sales and same store digital sales as key performance indicators. Same store sales are affected by digital sales growth, growth in recently replaced or remodeled stores, pharmacy sales, and inflation in certain departments, according to the company’s quarterly results. The company also notes that new stores, replacement stores and stores with banner changes are included in same store sales after they have been in operation for four full quarters, while store renovations and expansions are included in same store sales immediately.

Village Super Market’s earnings releases describe the impact of operating and administrative expenses, including employee costs, occupancy and facility costs, advertising, security, utilities, and external fees associated with digital sales. The company also reports on depreciation and amortization, impairment of assets, interest income and interest expense, and an effective income tax rate as part of its financial performance discussion.

The company provides non-GAAP measures, including Adjusted net income and Adjusted operating and administrative expenses, which it describes as supplemental measures that exclude the financial impact of certain items affecting period-to-period comparability. Management and the Board of Directors use these measures to assess ongoing operating performance, and the company notes that other companies may define non-GAAP measures differently.

Village Super Market’s capital allocation practices include the payment of quarterly cash dividends on its Class A and Class B common shares, as disclosed in repeated dividend announcements and related Form 8-K filings. The company has declared dividends at specified per-share amounts for both classes of stock, with payment dates and record dates detailed in its public communications.

Corporate governance information from the company’s definitive proxy statement (DEF 14A) shows that Village Super Market, Inc. is incorporated in New Jersey and holds an annual meeting of shareholders to elect directors and ratify the appointment of its independent registered public accounting firm. The proxy materials describe a dual-class share structure with Class A common stock and Class B common stock, where Class A shares carry one vote per share and Class B shares carry ten votes per share. The company conducts its annual meeting in a virtual format and uses proxy materials to solicit votes on director elections and auditor ratification.

Village Super Market’s board and management discuss various risk factors and operating considerations in their forward-looking statements, including general economic conditions, competitive pressures in its operating environment, the ability to maintain and improve sales and margins, availability of new store locations and capital, labor availability, supply chain disruptions, energy prices, costs from its principal supplier Wakefern, litigation outcomes, tax examinations, union contract negotiations, and the rate of return on pension assets. These factors are cited as potential drivers of differences between forward-looking statements and actual results.

Business Operations and Store Base

Across its ShopRite and Fairway supermarkets and Gourmet Garage specialty markets, Village Super Market emphasizes the retail sale of food and nonfood products. The company’s earnings releases reference store openings and replacement stores, such as a ShopRite replacement store in Watchung, New Jersey and a replacement store in Old Bridge, New Jersey. The company notes that replacement and remodeled stores contribute to sales growth and same store sales performance.

Village Super Market’s operations are concentrated in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania, with an explicit reference to eastern Pennsylvania in several dividend announcements. The company also specifies that its Gourmet Garage specialty markets are located in New York City. These geographic disclosures define the company’s primary operating footprint as presented in its public filings and news releases.

Financial Reporting and Performance Metrics

In its periodic results, Village Super Market reports sales, cost of sales, gross profit, operating and administrative expense, depreciation and amortization, impairment of assets, operating income, interest income, interest expense, income before income taxes, income taxes and net income. The company also discloses gross profit as a percentage of sales and operating and administrative expense as a percentage of sales for each reporting period. These metrics are presented for quarterly and year-to-date periods.

The company’s discussion of gross profit margins often references changes in departmental gross margin percentages, patronage dividends and other rebates received from Wakefern, warehouse assessment charges from Wakefern, LIFO charges, product mix, and promotional spending. Operating and administrative expenses are broken down by factors such as employee costs, occupancy and facility costs, advertising, security, utilities, external service and technology fees, legal and professional fees, supply spending, and facility insurance costs.

Village Super Market’s non-GAAP reconciliations adjust net income and operating and administrative expenses for items such as store pre-opening costs, pension settlement charges or gains, rent concessions, impairment of assets, and related tax impacts. The company explains that these adjustments are intended to remove the financial impact of certain items that affect comparability between periods.

Corporate Governance and Shareholder Matters

According to its DEF 14A filing, Village Super Market holds an annual meeting of shareholders to elect nine directors and to ratify the appointment of its independent registered public accounting firm, identified in proxy materials as KPMG LLP. The company uses proxy statements to describe voting procedures, quorum requirements, the treatment of broker non-votes and abstentions, and the rights of shareholders holding Class A and Class B common stock.

An 8-K filing describing the results of the annual meeting provides vote counts for each director nominee and for the ratification of KPMG LLP as independent auditors. The same filing notes that the Board of Directors declared quarterly cash dividends on Class A and Class B common shares, reiterating the company’s practice of returning capital to shareholders through regular dividends.

Regulatory Filings and Risk Disclosures

Village Super Market’s SEC filings and earnings releases contain forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The company lists principal factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements, including economic conditions, competition, sales and margin performance, labor availability, store location opportunities, capital availability, liquidity, operating initiatives, consumer spending patterns, energy prices, cost of goods sold (including costs from Wakefern), disruptions or changes in Wakefern’s operations, litigation outcomes, tax examinations, union contract negotiations, competitive store openings and closings, pension asset returns, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.

These disclosures provide context for how Village Super Market views its operating environment and the external and internal factors that can influence its financial results over time.