Coty (NYSE:COTY) versus Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Head to Head Review

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) and Coty (NYSE:COTY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Helen of Troy and Coty”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Helen of Troy	$1.91 billion	0.36	$123.75 million	$5.39	5.58
Coty	$6.12 billion	0.71	$89.40 million	($0.48)	-10.35

Helen of Troy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Coty. Coty is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Helen of Troy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Helen of Troy and Coty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Helen of Troy	6.49%	8.93%	4.85%
Coty	-6.60%	5.61%	1.87%

Volatility and Risk

Helen of Troy has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Coty has a beta of 1.91, suggesting that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Helen of Troy and Coty, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Helen of Troy	0	2	1	0	2.33
Coty	2	8	9	0	2.37

Helen of Troy currently has a consensus price target of $54.33, suggesting a potential upside of 80.51%. Coty has a consensus price target of $7.80, suggesting a potential upside of 56.89%. Given Helen of Troy’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Helen of Troy is more favorable than Coty.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

42.4% of Coty shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Helen of Troy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Coty shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

About Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy Limited provides various consumer products in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates in two segments: Home & Outdoor and Beauty & Wellness. The Home & Outdoor segment offers food storage containers, kitchen utensils for cooking and preparing salads, fruits, vegetables and meats, graters, slicers and choppers, baking essentials, kitchen organization, bath, cleaning, infant and toddler products, and coffee preparation tools and electronics; and insulated beverageware, including bottles, travel tumblers, drinkware, mugs, food and lunch containers, insulated totes, soft coolers, outdoor kitchenware, and accessories. This segment also provides technical and outdoor sports packs, bike packs and bags, hydration and travel packs, duffel bags and luggage, lifestyle and everyday packs, kid carrier packs, and accessories. The Beauty & Wellness segment offers mass, professional and prestige hair appliances, brushes, grooming tools, and accessories; and prestige shampoos, liquid hair styling products, treatments, and conditioners. This segment also provides thermometers, blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, nasal aspirators, humidifiers, faucet mount and pitcher water filtration systems, air purifiers, heaters, fans, and humidification, thermometry, water filtration, and air purification consumables. The company sells its products through mass merchandisers, sporting goods retailers, department stores, drugstore chains, home improvement stores, grocery stores, specialty stores, prestige beauty chains, beauty supply retailers, e-commerce retailers, wholesalers, warehouse clubs, and various types of distributors, as well as directly to consumers under the OXO, Good Grips, Soft Works, OXO tot, OXO Brew, OXO Strive, OXO Outdoor, Hydro Flask, Osprey, Drybar, Hot Tools, Curlsmith, and PUR brands. Helen of Troy Limited was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in El Paso, Texas.

About Coty

Coty Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells beauty products worldwide. It operates through Prestige and Consumer Beauty segments. The company provides fragrance, color cosmetics, and skin and body care products. It offers Prestige segment products primarily through prestige retailers, including perfumeries, department stores, e-retailers, direct-to-consumer websites, and duty-free shops under the Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chloe, Davidoff, Escada, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Jil Sander, Joop!, Kylie Jenner, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Orveda, philosophy, SKKN BY KIM, and Tiffany & Co. brands. The company provides Consumer Beauty segment products primarily through hypermarkets, supermarkets, drug stores, pharmacies, mid-tier department stores, traditional food and drug retailers, and e-commerce retailers under the Adidas, Beckham, Biocolor, Bozzano, Bourjois, Bruno Banani, CoverGirl, Jovan, Max Factor, Mexx, Monange, Nautica, Paixao, Rimmel, Risque, and Sally Hansen brands. It also sells its products through third-party distributors. The company was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Coty Inc. is a subsidiary of JAB Beauty B.V.