Reviewing Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) & Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC)

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Leslie’s and Edgewell Personal Care”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Leslie’s	$1.24 billion	0.01	-$236.97 million	($25.54)	-0.04
Edgewell Personal Care	$2.22 billion	0.46	$25.40 million	($0.85)	-25.73

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.

Profitability

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

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Leslie’s and Edgewell Personal Care, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Leslie’s	4	5	0	0	1.56
Edgewell Personal Care	1	4	3	0	2.25

Leslie’s presently has a consensus target price of $10.21, indicating a potential upside of 811.46%. Edgewell Personal Care has a consensus target price of $23.33, indicating a potential upside of 6.68%. Given Leslie’s’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Leslie’s is more favorable than Edgewell Personal Care.

Risk and Volatility

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.9% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Leslie’s shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Edgewell Personal Care beats Leslie’s on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.