Swatch Group (OTCMKTS:SWGAY) & L’Oreal (OTCMKTS:LRLCY) Critical Comparison

Swatch Group (OTCMKTS:SWGAY) and L’Oreal (OTCMKTS:LRLCY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Swatch Group and L’Oreal, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Swatch Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
L’Oreal	2	5	2	3	2.50

Profitability

This table compares Swatch Group and L’Oreal’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Swatch Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
L’Oreal	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Swatch Group and L’Oreal”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Swatch Group	$7.65 billion	3.15	$219.23 million	N/A	N/A
L’Oreal	$47.06 billion	4.97	$6.93 billion	N/A	N/A

L’Oreal has higher revenue and earnings than Swatch Group.

Dividends

Swatch Group pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. L’Oreal pays an annual dividend of $1.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%.

Risk and Volatility

Swatch Group has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, L’Oreal has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.4% of L’Oreal shares are owned by institutional investors. 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

L’Oreal beats Swatch Group on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Swatch Group

The Swatch Group AG designs, manufactures, and sells finished watches, jewelry, and watch movements and components worldwide. The company operates through Watches & Jewelry and Electronic Systems segments. The Watches & Jewelry segment designs, produces, and commercializes watches and jewelry. The Electronic Systems segment engages in the design, production, and commercialization of electronic components, as well as sports timing activities. It is also involved in the provision of assembly, research and development, administration, polishing, logistics and distribution, and customer services; and hard material products, microelectronics, watch cases and crowns, miniature low-frequency quartz crystals, thin wires, miniature batteries, watch dials, watch hands, bracelets, sports timing technology and equipment, precision parts, and assembly electronic components. In addition, the company engages in retail, communication, real estate, real estate management, finance, reinsurance, and art center businesses. It offers its watch and jewelry products primarily under the Breguet, Harry Winston, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet Droz, Léon Hatot, Omega, Longines, Rado, Union Glashütte, Tissot, Balmain, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Swatch, and Flik Flak brands. The Swatch Group AG was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.

About L’Oreal

L'Oréal S.A., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic products for women and men worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Consumer Products, L'oréal Luxe, Professional Products, and Dermatological Beauty. It offers skincare, make-up, hair colourants, haircare, perfumes, and hygiene products. The company provides its products under the L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Stylenanda, Essie, Dark & Lovely, Mixa, Magic Mask, Niley, Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Kiehl's Since 1851, Helena Rubinstein, Biotherm, Shu Uemura, IT Cosmetics, Ralph Lauren Fragrance, Urban Decay, Mugler, Valentino, Viktor&Rolf, Azzaro, Prada, Cacharel, Maison Margela Fragrance, Diesel, Yue Sai, Atelier Colonge, Carita, Takami, Aesop, L'Oréal Professionnel Paris, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix, Pureology, Pulp Riot, La Roche-Posay, Vichy, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals, and Skinbetter Science brands. It sells its products through distribution channels, such as hair salons, local stores, e-commerce, travel retail, mass market retail, department store perfumeries, pharmacies, drug stores, medi-spas, and free-standing stores. L'Oréal S.A. was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Clichy, France.