Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) and Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) Head-To-Head Review

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) and Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) 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, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.9% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Leslie’s shares are held 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 and Earnings

This table compares Edgewell Personal Care and Leslie’s”s top-line 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	0.47	$25.40 million	($0.85)	-26.10
Leslie’s	$1.24 billion	0.01	-$236.97 million	($25.54)	-0.05

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

Risk and Volatility

Edgewell Personal Care has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Leslie’s has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Edgewell Personal Care	-1.76%	7.16%	2.90%
Leslie’s	-19.08%	N/A	-5.76%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Edgewell Personal Care and Leslie’s, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Edgewell Personal Care	1	4	3	0	2.25
Leslie’s	3	5	0	0	1.63

Edgewell Personal Care currently has a consensus target price of $23.67, suggesting a potential upside of 6.66%. Leslie’s has a consensus target price of $6.65, suggesting a potential upside of 454.17%. Given Leslie’s’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Leslie’s is more favorable than Edgewell Personal Care.

Summary

Edgewell Personal Care beats Leslie’s on 11 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 Leslie’s

Leslie’s, Inc. operates as a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand in the United States. The company markets and sells pool and spa supplies and related products and services. It also offers various pool and spa maintenance items, such as chemicals, equipment and parts, cleaning and maintenance equipment, safety, recreational, and fitness related products. In addition, the company provides installation and repair services for pool and spa equipment. It also sells its products through e-commerce websites and third-party marketplaces. The company offers complimentary, commercial-grade in-store, water testing, and analysis services. It serves the residential, professional, and commercial consumers. Leslie’s, Inc. was founded in 1963 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.