Analyzing Imperial Tobacco Group (OTCMKTS:IMBBY) & RLX Technology (NYSE:RLX)

Imperial Tobacco Group (OTCMKTS:IMBBY) and RLX Technology (NYSE:RLX) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Dividends

Imperial Tobacco Group pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. RLX Technology pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. RLX Technology pays out 100.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Imperial Tobacco Group and RLX Technology”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Imperial Tobacco Group	$42.02 billion	0.69	$2.70 billion	N/A	N/A
RLX Technology	$566.11 million	5.51	$131.83 million	$0.10	20.15

Imperial Tobacco Group has higher revenue and earnings than RLX Technology.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Imperial Tobacco Group and RLX Technology, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Imperial Tobacco Group	0	2	0	0	2.00
RLX Technology	0	2	0	0	2.00

RLX Technology has a consensus price target of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 24.07%. Given RLX Technology’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe RLX Technology is more favorable than Imperial Tobacco Group.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Imperial Tobacco Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.7% of RLX Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Imperial Tobacco Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 53.4% of RLX Technology shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Imperial Tobacco Group and RLX Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Imperial Tobacco Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
RLX Technology	20.76%	6.15%	5.60%

Risk & Volatility

Imperial Tobacco Group has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RLX Technology has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

RLX Technology beats Imperial Tobacco Group on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Imperial Tobacco Group

Imperial Brands PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, imports, markets, and sells tobacco and tobacco-related products in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It offers a range of cigarettes, tobacco accessories, vapour, heated tobacco, and oral nicotine. The company sells its products under various brands, including JPS, Davidoff, Gauloises, West, Winston, Kool, Lambert & Butler, Fortuna, Nobel, News, Backwoods, Champion, Golden Virginia, Rizla, Blu, Pulze, Skruf, and Zone X. In addition, it engages in the distribution of tobacco and NGP products for tobacco and NGP product manufacturers; and various non-tobacco and NGP products and services. Further, the company is involved in the management of a golf course; distribution of pharmaceuticals, POS software, and published materials and other products; printing and publishing activities; and provision of long haul transportation, industrial parcel and express delivery, pharmaceutical products logistics, advertising, payment, and support management services, as well as owns the trademarks; and retails its products. Additionally, it engages in distribution of books; waste management, leaf processing related activities. Furthermore, the company is involved in research and development of e-vapour products. The company was formerly known as Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and changed its name to Imperial Brands PLC in February 2016. Imperial Brands PLC was founded in 1636 and is based in Bristol, the United Kingdom.

About RLX Technology

RLX Technology Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of e-vapor products in the People's Republic of China and internationally. It serves partner distributors and retail outlets. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.