Critical Comparison: Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) versus Waldencast (NASDAQ:WALDW)

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

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Waldencast	$272.07 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kimberly-Clark	$16.45 billion	2.22	$2.02 billion	$5.88	18.63

Kimberly-Clark has higher revenue and earnings than Waldencast.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.3% of Kimberly-Clark shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Kimberly-Clark shares are held 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waldencast	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kimberly-Clark	11.79%	143.92%	14.21%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Waldencast and Kimberly-Clark, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Waldencast	0	0	0	0	0.00
Kimberly-Clark	1	11	4	1	2.29

Kimberly-Clark has a consensus price target of $117.93, suggesting a potential upside of 7.65%. Given Kimberly-Clark’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Kimberly-Clark is more favorable than Waldencast.

Summary

Kimberly-Clark beats Waldencast on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Waldencast

Waldencast plc operates in the beauty and wellness industry. It engages in developing, acquiring, accelerating, and scaling various brands. The company provides cosmetic, over-the-counter, and prescription products under the Obagi Medical, Obagi Clinical, and Obagi Professional brands; and a Skintrinsiq device for use in facial treatments that is used by physicians' offices, spas, and aestheticians. It also offers clean makeup products under the Milk Makeup brand. The company sells its products to dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and other physicians who focuses on aesthetic and therapeutic skincare, including physicians on site at medical spas, through its direct sales force, as well as through distribution partners. Waldencast plc was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

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.