Head to Head Survey: Energizer (NYSE:ENR) and L’Oreal (OTCMKTS:LRLCY)

L’Oreal (OTCMKTS:LRLCY) and Energizer (NYSE:ENR) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for L’Oreal and Energizer, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
L’Oreal	2	5	2	3	2.50
Energizer	1	7	1	0	2.00

Energizer has a consensus target price of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.81%. Given Energizer’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Energizer is more favorable than L’Oreal.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares L’Oreal and Energizer”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
L’Oreal	$47.06 billion	4.88	$6.93 billion	N/A	N/A
Energizer	$2.95 billion	0.47	$239.00 million	$3.32	6.12

L’Oreal has higher revenue and earnings than Energizer.

Dividends

L’Oreal pays an annual dividend of $1.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Energizer pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Energizer pays out 36.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.4% of L’Oreal shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.7% of Energizer shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Energizer shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

L’Oreal has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energizer has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares L’Oreal and Energizer’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
L’Oreal	N/A	N/A	N/A
Energizer	8.09%	161.50%	5.79%

Summary

L’Oreal beats Energizer on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About L’Oreal

L'Oréal S.A., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic products for women and men worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Consumer Products, L'oréal Luxe, Professional Products, and Dermatological Beauty. It offers skincare, make-up, hair colourants, haircare, perfumes, and hygiene products. The company provides its products under the L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Stylenanda, Essie, Dark & Lovely, Mixa, Magic Mask, Niley, Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Kiehl's Since 1851, Helena Rubinstein, Biotherm, Shu Uemura, IT Cosmetics, Ralph Lauren Fragrance, Urban Decay, Mugler, Valentino, Viktor&Rolf, Azzaro, Prada, Cacharel, Maison Margela Fragrance, Diesel, Yue Sai, Atelier Colonge, Carita, Takami, Aesop, L'Oréal Professionnel Paris, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix, Pureology, Pulp Riot, La Roche-Posay, Vichy, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals, and Skinbetter Science brands. It sells its products through distribution channels, such as hair salons, local stores, e-commerce, travel retail, mass market retail, department store perfumeries, pharmacies, drug stores, medi-spas, and free-standing stores. L'Oréal S.A. was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Clichy, France.

About Energizer

Energizer Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer, Eveready, and Rayovac brands; primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries; and handheld, headlights, lanterns, and area lights, as well as flashlights under the Hard Case, Dolphin, and WeatherReady brands. The company licenses the Energizer, Rayovac, and Eveready brands to companies developing consumer solutions in solar, automotive batteries, portable power for critical devices, generators, power tools, household light bulbs, and other lighting products. In addition, it designs and markets automotive fragrance and appearance products, including protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products, air fresheners, and washes to clean, shine, refresh, and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces under the brand names of Armor All, Nu Finish, Refresh Your Car!, LEXOL, Eagle One, California Scents, Driven, Bahama & Co, Carnu, Grand Prix, Kit, and Tempo; STP branded fuel and oil additives, functional fluids, and other performance chemical products; and do-it-yourself automotive air conditioning recharge products under the A/C PRO brand name, as well as other refrigerant and recharge kits, sealants, and accessories. The company sells its products through direct sales force, distributors, and wholesalers; and various retail and business-to-business channels, including mass merchandisers, club, electronics, food, home improvement, dollar store, auto, drug, hardware, e-commerce, convenience, sporting goods, hobby/craft, office, industrial, medical, and catalog. Energizer Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.