Analyzing Ahold (OTCMKTS:ADRNY) and Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL)

Ahold (OTCMKTS:ADRNY) and Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ahold and Leslie’s”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ahold	$96.70 billion	0.38	$1.91 billion	€2.19	18.40
Leslie’s	$1.25 billion	0.05	-$23.38 million	($0.45)	-0.74

Ahold has higher revenue and earnings than Leslie’s. Leslie’s is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ahold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ahold and Leslie’s, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ahold	0	3	0	1	2.50
Leslie’s	1	9	0	0	1.90

Leslie’s has a consensus target price of $1.60, indicating a potential upside of 379.04%. Given Leslie’s’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Leslie’s is more favorable than Ahold.

Volatility & Risk

Ahold has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Leslie’s has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ahold and Leslie’s’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ahold	2.02%	15.88%	4.71%
Leslie’s	-6.72%	N/A	-4.96%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Ahold shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Leslie’s shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ahold beats Leslie’s on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ahold

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. operates retail food stores and e-commerce in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company's stores offer produce, dairy, meat, deli, bakery, seafood, and frozen products; grocery, beer, and wine; floral, pet food, health and beauty care, kitchen and cookware, gardening tools, general merchandise articles, electronics, newspapers and magazines, tobacco, etc.; gasoline; and pharmacy products. It operates its supermarkets, convenience stores, and online stores under the Food Lion, Stop & Shop, The GIANT Company, Hannaford, Giant Food, FreshDirect, Albert Heijn, bol.com, Etos, Gall & Gall, Delhaize, Albert, Alfa Beta Vassilopoulos, Mega Image, Delhaize Serbia, Peapod Digital labs, and Retail Business Service brands. The company was formerly known as Koninklijke Ahold N.V. and changed its name to Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. in July 2016. Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Zaandam, the Netherlands.

About Leslie’s

Leslie’s, Inc. operates as a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand in the United States. The company markets and sells pool and spa supplies and related products and services. It also offers various pool and spa maintenance items, such as chemicals, equipment and parts, cleaning and maintenance equipment, safety, recreational, and fitness related products. In addition, the company provides installation and repair services for pool and spa equipment. It also sells its products through e-commerce websites and third-party marketplaces. The company offers complimentary, commercial-grade in-store, water testing, and analysis services. It serves the residential, professional, and commercial consumers. Leslie’s, Inc. was founded in 1963 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.