Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) & Purple Innovation (NASDAQ:PRPL) Critical Survey

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) and Purple Innovation (NASDAQ:PRPL) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.9% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.4% of Purple Innovation shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 54.0% of Purple Innovation shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Edgewell Personal Care and Purple Innovation”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Edgewell Personal Care	$2.22 billion	0.62	$25.40 million	($1.67)	-17.81
Purple Innovation	$468.73 million	0.07	-$51.41 million	($0.58)	-0.50

Edgewell Personal Care has higher revenue and earnings than Purple Innovation. Edgewell Personal Care is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Purple Innovation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Edgewell Personal Care and Purple Innovation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Edgewell Personal Care	-3.69%	6.31%	2.57%
Purple Innovation	-13.65%	N/A	-12.25%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Edgewell Personal Care and Purple Innovation, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Edgewell Personal Care	1	4	3	0	2.25
Purple Innovation	1	2	0	0	1.67

Edgewell Personal Care presently has a consensus target price of $26.83, indicating a potential downside of 9.79%. Purple Innovation has a consensus target price of $0.65, indicating a potential upside of 124.37%. Given Purple Innovation’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Purple Innovation is more favorable than Edgewell Personal Care.

Risk & Volatility

Edgewell Personal Care has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Purple Innovation has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Edgewell Personal Care beats Purple Innovation on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other. Its Wet shave products are sold under the Schick, Wilkinson Sword, Edge, Skintimate, Shave Guard and Personna brand names. Its Sun and Skin Care products are sold under the Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Wet Ones and Playtex brand names and offers Wet Ones, portable hand wipes category, and Playtex household gloves, the branded household glove in the United States. Its Feminine Care segment markets its products under the Playtex, Stayfree, Carefree and o.b. brands and markets pads and liners. Its All Other segment includes infant care, pet care and miscellaneous other products.

About Purple Innovation

Purple Innovation, Inc. designs and manufactures sleep and other products in the United States and internationally. The company offers mattresses, pillows, cushions, bases, sheets, platforms, adjustable bases, mattress protectors, foundations, blankets, duvets, duvet covers, seat cushions, and pet beds under the Purple brand. It markets and sells its products through its e-commerce online channels, retail brick-and-mortar wholesale partners, third-party online retailers, and Purple showrooms, as well as through its website, Purple.com. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah.