Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL – Get Free Report) and WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC – Get Free Report) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Newell Brands and WD-40, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Newell Brands | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2.30 |
| WD-40 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
Newell Brands currently has a consensus price target of $5.72, suggesting a potential upside of 49.02%. WD-40 has a consensus price target of $300.00, suggesting a potential upside of 44.49%. Given Newell Brands’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Newell Brands is more favorable than WD-40.
Risk & Volatility
Dividends
Newell Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.3%. WD-40 pays an annual dividend of $3.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Newell Brands pays out -466.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WD-40 pays out 56.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. WD-40 has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Newell Brands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
92.5% of Newell Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.5% of WD-40 shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Newell Brands shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of WD-40 shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Newell Brands and WD-40’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Newell Brands | -0.33% | 8.64% | 2.08% |
| WD-40 | 14.68% | 31.84% | 17.22% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Newell Brands and WD-40″s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Newell Brands | $7.58 billion | 0.21 | -$216.00 million | ($0.06) | -64.00 |
| WD-40 | $619.98 million | 4.53 | $90.99 million | $6.68 | 31.08 |
WD-40 has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Newell Brands. Newell Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WD-40, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
WD-40 beats Newell Brands on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Newell Brands
Newell Brands Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, sourcing, and distribution of consumer and commercial products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Home and Commercial Solutions, Learning and Development, and Outdoor and Recreation. The Commercial Solutions segment provides commercial cleaning and maintenance solution products under the Rubbermaid, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Mapa, and Spontex brands; closet and garage organization products; hygiene systems and material handling solutions; household products, such as kitchen appliances under the Crockpot, Mr. Coffee, Oster, and Sunbeam brands; small appliances under the Breville brand name in Europe; food and home storage products under the FoodSaver, Rubbermaid, Ball, and Sistema brands; fresh preserving products; vacuum sealing products; and gourmet cookware, bakeware, and cutlery under the Calphalon brand; and home fragrance products under the WoodWick and Yankee Candle brands. The Learning and Development segment offers writing instruments, including markers and highlighters, pens, and pencils; art products; activity-based products; labeling solutions; and baby gear and infant care products under the Dymo, Elmer's, EXPO, Graco, NUK, Paper Mate, Parker, and Sharpie brands. The Outdoor and Recreation segment provides outdoor and outdoor-related products, inlcuding technical apparel and on-the-go beverageware under the Campingaz, Coleman, Contigo, and Marmot brands. It serves warehouse clubs, department and drug/grocery stores, mass merchants, home centers, commercial products distributors, specialty retailers, office superstores and supply stores, contract stationers, e-commerce retailers, and sporting goods, as well as direct to consumers online, select contract customers, and other professional customers. Newell Brands Inc. was founded in 1903 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
About WD-40
WD-40 Company develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides multi-purpose maintenance products that include aerosol sprays, non-aerosol trigger sprays, precision pens, and in liquid-bulk form products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand name; specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants, and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand; and bike-specific products. It also offers multi-purpose and specialty drip oils, and spray lubricant products, as well as other specialty maintenance products under the 3-IN-ONE brand name; and professional spray maintenance products and lubricants for the bike maintenance market under the GT85 brand name. In addition, the company provides automatic toilet bowl cleaners under the 2000 Flushes brand name; aerosol and liquid trigger carpet stain and odor eliminators under the Spot Shot brand; room and rug deodorizers under the Carpet Fresh brand name; carpet and household cleaners, and rug and room deodorizers under the 1001 brand; heavy-duty hand cleaner products under the Lava brand name in the United States, as well as under the Solvol brand name in Australia; and automatic toilet bowl cleaners under the X-14 brand name. It sells its products primarily through warehouse club stores, hardware stores, automotive parts outlets, industrial distributors and suppliers, mass retail and home center stores, value retailers, grocery stores, online retailers, farm supply, sport retailers, and independent bike dealers. WD-40 Company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
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