Comparing Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) & Interparfums (NASDAQ:IPAR)

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) and Interparfums (NASDAQ:IPAR) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Kimberly-Clark and Interparfums”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kimberly-Clark	$16.45 billion	2.22	$2.02 billion	$5.88	18.70
Interparfums	$1.49 billion	2.52	$168.39 million	$5.23	22.42

Kimberly-Clark has higher revenue and earnings than Interparfums. Kimberly-Clark is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Interparfums, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.3% of Kimberly-Clark shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.6% of Interparfums shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Kimberly-Clark shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 43.6% of Interparfums shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Kimberly-Clark pays an annual dividend of $5.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Interparfums pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Kimberly-Clark pays out 87.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Interparfums pays out 61.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kimberly-Clark has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years and Interparfums has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Kimberly-Clark is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Kimberly-Clark and Interparfums’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kimberly-Clark	11.79%	143.92%	14.21%
Interparfums	11.17%	15.21%	10.85%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Kimberly-Clark and Interparfums, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kimberly-Clark	1	11	4	1	2.29
Interparfums	1	5	2	1	2.33

Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus price target of $117.93, indicating a potential upside of 7.23%. Interparfums has a consensus price target of $123.29, indicating a potential upside of 5.13%. Given Kimberly-Clark’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kimberly-Clark is more favorable than Interparfums.

Risk and Volatility

Kimberly-Clark has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Interparfums has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Kimberly-Clark beats Interparfums on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company’s Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names. Its Consumer Tissue segment provides facial and bathroom tissues, paper towels, napkins, and related products under the Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, Viva, Andrex, Scottex, Neve, and other brand names. The company’s K-C Professional segment offers wipers, tissues, towels, apparel, personal protective equipment, soaps, and sanitizers under the Kleenex, Scott, WypAll, Kimtech, and KleenGuard brands. It also sells household use products directly to supermarkets, mass merchandisers, drugstores, warehouse clubs, variety and department stores, and other retail outlets, as well as through other distributors and e-commerce; and away-from-home use products directly to distributors, manufacturing, lodging, office building, food service, and public facilities, as well as through e-commerce. Kimberly-Clark Corporation was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About Interparfums

Inter Parfums, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of fragrances and fragrance related products in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, European Based Operations and United States Based Operations. The company offers its fragrance and cosmetic products under the Boucheron, Coach, Jimmy Choo, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade, Lanvin, Moncler, Montblanc, Rochas, S.T. Dupont, Van Cleef & Arpels, Abercrombie & Fitch, Anna Sui, Donna Karan, DKNY, Emanual Ungaro, Ferragamo, Graff, GUESS, Hollister, MCM, Oscar de la Renta, Ungaro, and Roberto Cavalli brands, as well as French Connection, Intimate, and Dunhill, Lacoste names. It sells its products to department stores, perfumeries, specialty stores, duty free shops, and domestic and international wholesalers, and distributors, as well as through e-commerce. The company was formerly known as Jean Philippe Fragrances, Inc. and changed its name to Inter Parfums, Inc. in July 1999. Inter Parfums, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in New York, New York.