Critical Analysis: National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) & Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for National Vision and Colgate-Palmolive, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Vision	0	5	4	0	2.44
Colgate-Palmolive	1	9	10	0	2.45

National Vision currently has a consensus price target of $18.67, suggesting a potential downside of 18.41%. Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus price target of $102.12, suggesting a potential upside of 16.25%. Given Colgate-Palmolive’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Colgate-Palmolive is more favorable than National Vision.

Risk & Volatility

National Vision has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Colgate-Palmolive has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares National Vision and Colgate-Palmolive’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Vision	-1.40%	3.44%	1.40%
Colgate-Palmolive	14.52%	461.04%	18.14%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.4% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of National Vision shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares National Vision and Colgate-Palmolive”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Vision	$1.82 billion	0.99	-$28.50 million	($0.33)	-69.33
Colgate-Palmolive	$20.10 billion	3.54	$2.89 billion	$3.54	24.82

Colgate-Palmolive has higher revenue and earnings than National Vision. National Vision is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Colgate-Palmolive, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Colgate-Palmolive beats National Vision on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Vision

National Vision Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America’s Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services. National Vision Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items. This segment markets and sells its products under various brands, which include Colgate, Darlie, elmex, hello, meridol, Sorriso, Tom's of Maine, Irish Spring, Palmolive, Protex, Sanex, Softsoap, Lady Speed Stick, Speed Stick, EltaMD, Filorga, PCA SKIN, Ajax, Axion, Fabuloso, Murphy, Suavitel, and Soupline to a range of traditional and eCommerce retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. It includes pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals. Its Pet Nutrition segment offers pet nutrition products for everyday nutritional needs under the Hill's Science Diet brand; and a range of therapeutic pet products to help nutritionally support dogs and cats in different stages of health under the Hill's Prescription Diet brand. This segment markets and sells its products through pet supply retailers, veterinarians, and eCommerce retailers. Colgate-Palmolive Company was founded in 1806 and is headquartered in New York, New York.