Financial Comparison: Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) versus Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY)

Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Warby Parker and Colgate-Palmolive, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Warby Parker	0	5	10	0	2.67
Colgate-Palmolive	0	7	12	0	2.63

Warby Parker presently has a consensus target price of $29.82, indicating a potential upside of 2.20%. Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus target price of $95.88, indicating a potential upside of 0.75%. Given Warby Parker’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Warby Parker is more favorable than Colgate-Palmolive.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Warby Parker and Colgate-Palmolive”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Warby Parker	$871.91 million	3.58	$1.64 million	$0.02	1,458.75
Colgate-Palmolive	$20.38 billion	3.74	$2.13 billion	$2.57	37.03

Colgate-Palmolive has higher revenue and earnings than Warby Parker. Colgate-Palmolive is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Warby Parker, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Warby Parker and Colgate-Palmolive’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Warby Parker	0.15%	2.30%	1.18%
Colgate-Palmolive	10.04%	386.76%	17.89%

Risk and Volatility

Warby Parker has a beta of 1.91, indicating that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Colgate-Palmolive has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.2% of Warby Parker shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.4% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.8% of Warby Parker shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Colgate-Palmolive beats Warby Parker on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Warby Parker

Warby Parker Inc. provides eyewear products in the United States and Canada. The company offers eyeglasses, sunglasses, light-responsive lenses, blue-light-filtering lenses, non-prescription lenses, and contact lenses. It also provides accessories, such as cases, lenses kit with anti-fog spray, pouches, and anti-fog lens spray through its retail stores, website, and mobile apps. In addition, the company offers eye exams and vision tests. Warby Parker Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items. This segment markets and sells its products under various brands, which include Colgate, Darlie, elmex, hello, meridol, Sorriso, Tom's of Maine, Irish Spring, Palmolive, Protex, Sanex, Softsoap, Lady Speed Stick, Speed Stick, EltaMD, Filorga, PCA SKIN, Ajax, Axion, Fabuloso, Murphy, Suavitel, and Soupline to a range of traditional and eCommerce retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. It includes pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals. Its Pet Nutrition segment offers pet nutrition products for everyday nutritional needs under the Hill's Science Diet brand; and a range of therapeutic pet products to help nutritionally support dogs and cats in different stages of health under the Hill's Prescription Diet brand. This segment markets and sells its products through pet supply retailers, veterinarians, and eCommerce retailers. Colgate-Palmolive Company was founded in 1806 and is headquartered in New York, New York.