Critical Comparison: Unilever (NYSE:UL) versus Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV)

Unilever (NYSE:UL) and Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Unilever and Grove Collaborative’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unilever	N/A	N/A	N/A
Grove Collaborative	-12.59%	N/A	-30.45%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

9.7% of Unilever shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Grove Collaborative shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Unilever shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.4% of Grove Collaborative shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Unilever and Grove Collaborative, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unilever	2	2	4	2	2.60
Grove Collaborative	1	1	1	0	2.00

Unilever presently has a consensus target price of $73.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.87%. Grove Collaborative has a consensus target price of $1.60, suggesting a potential upside of 16.03%. Given Unilever’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Unilever is more favorable than Grove Collaborative.

Risk and Volatility

Unilever has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grove Collaborative has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Unilever and Grove Collaborative”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Unilever	$59.77 billion	2.44	$6.22 billion	N/A	N/A
Grove Collaborative	$203.43 million	0.28	-$27.42 million	($0.62)	-2.22

Unilever has higher revenue and earnings than Grove Collaborative.

Summary

Unilever beats Grove Collaborative on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Unilever

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through five segments: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The Beauty & Wellbeing segment engages in the sale of hair care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and styling; skin care products including face, hand, and body moisturizer; and prestige beauty and health & wellbeing products consist of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements. The Personal Care segment offers skin cleansing products comprising soap and shower; deodorants; and oral care products, such as toothpaste, toothbrush, and mouthwash products. The Home Care segment is involved in the sale of fabric care products, including washing powders and liquids, and rinse conditioners; and fabric enhancers, and home and hygiene products. The Nutrition segment provides dressings products, such as mayonnaise and ketchup; sells scratch cooking aids consist of soups, bouillons, and seasonings; plant-based meat; beverages; and functional nutrition products, including Horlicks and Boost, as well as tea products. The Ice Cream segment offers ice cream products including in-home and out-of-home ice creams. The company provides its products under the AXE, Ben & Jerry's, Cif, Clear, Closeup, Comfort, Cornetto, Dermalogica, Domestos, Dove, Dove Men+Care, Hellmann's, Horlicks, Knorr, LUX, Lifebuoy, Liquid I.V., Magnum, Nutrafol, OMO, Paula's Choice, Pepsodent, Pond's, Rexona, Rexona, Sunlight, Sunsilk, Surf, TRESemmé, Vaseline, Wall's, Breyers, and Yasso brand names. Unilever PLC was founded in 1860 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative Holdings, Inc. operates as a plastic neutral consumer products retailer in the United States. It offers household, personal care, beauty, and other consumer products through retail channels, third parties, direct-to-consumer platform, and mobile applications, as well as online store. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.