Financial Survey: Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY) and Charlie’s (OTCMKTS:CHUC)

Japan Tob (OTCMKTS:JAPAY) and Charlie’s (OTCMKTS:CHUC) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.8% of Charlie’s shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.9% of Charlie’s shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Japan Tob and Charlie’s”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Tob	$23.20 billion	2.81	$3.42 billion	$0.91	20.20
Charlie’s	$20.92 million	2.50	$4.50 million	$0.01	19.10

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Japan Tob and Charlie’s, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Japan Tob	2	0	0	0	1.00
Charlie’s	0	0	0	0	0.00

Japan Tob currently has a consensus target price of $17.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.50%. Given Japan Tob’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Japan Tob is more favorable than Charlie’s.

Volatility and Risk

Japan Tob has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Charlie’s has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Tob and Charlie’s’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Tob	N/A	N/A	N/A
Charlie’s	21.51%	285.82%	55.24%

Summary

Japan Tob beats Charlie’s on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Japan Tob

Japan Tobacco Inc., a tobacco company, manufactures and sells tobacco products, pharmaceuticals, and processed foods in Japan and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Tobacco Business, Pharmaceutical, and Processed Food. It offers tobacco products, such as cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco products, E-vapor products, fine cut tobacco products, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco products, and hookah and kretek products. The company also provides reduced-risk products, including infused tobacco capsules and heated tobacco sticks. In addition, it researches and develops, manufactures, and sells prescription drugs for the therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, kidney and metabolism, immunity/inflammation, and central nervous system. Further, the company provides frozen and room-temperature products, such as frozen udon noodles, packed rice, and frozen okonomiyaki; bakery products; and seasonings, including yeast extracts, assembled, kelp and bonito extracts, and oyster sauces. It offers its products under the Winston, Camel, MEVIUS, and LD brands. Japan Tobacco Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Charlie’s

Charlie's Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, formulates, markets, and distributes non-combustible nicotine-related, alternative alkaloid vapor, and hemp-derived vapor and edible products. It sells its products through distributors, specialty retailers, and third-party online resellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Charlie's Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California.