Critical Review: Petco Health and Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF) vs. National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE)

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) and Petco Health and Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares National Vision and Petco Health and Wellness’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Vision	2.47%	6.78%	3.01%
Petco Health and Wellness	0.51%	3.44%	0.78%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for National Vision and Petco Health and Wellness, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Vision	0	4	7	0	2.64
Petco Health and Wellness	2	5	1	1	2.11

National Vision presently has a consensus price target of $29.82, suggesting a potential upside of 72.46%. Petco Health and Wellness has a consensus price target of $3.42, suggesting a potential upside of 39.59%. Given National Vision’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe National Vision is more favorable than Petco Health and Wellness.

Risk and Volatility

National Vision has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Petco Health and Wellness has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares National Vision and Petco Health and Wellness”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Vision	$2.03 billion	0.67	$29.60 million	$0.61	28.34
Petco Health and Wellness	$5.96 billion	0.13	$9.07 million	$0.10	24.50

National Vision has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Petco Health and Wellness. Petco Health and Wellness is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Vision, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

National Vision beats Petco Health and Wellness on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Vision

National Vision Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America’s Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services. National Vision Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.

About Petco Health and Wellness

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc., operates as a health and wellness company, focuses on enhancing the lives of pets, pet parents, and its Petco partners in the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The company provides veterinary care, grooming, training, tele-health, and Vital Care and pet health insurance services, as well as veterinary services through Vetco mobile clinics. It also offers pet consumables, supplies, and services through its petco.com, petcoach.co, petinsurancequotes.com, and pupbox.com websites. The company offers its products under the WholeHearted, Reddy, and Well & Good brands. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.