Charlie’s (OTCMKTS:CHUC) and Universal (NYSE:UVV) Critical Survey

Charlie’s (OTCMKTS:CHUC) and Universal (NYSE:UVV) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Charlie’s has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Charlie’s and Universal, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Charlie’s	0	0	0	0	0.00
Universal	0	1	0	1	3.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Charlie’s and Universal”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Charlie’s	$8.49 million	7.13	-$4.16 million	$0.01	22.36
Universal	$2.95 billion	0.43	$95.05 million	$4.11	12.32

Universal has higher revenue and earnings than Charlie’s. Universal is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Charlie’s, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Charlie’s and Universal’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Charlie’s	19.36%	-174.49%	36.91%
Universal	3.51%	8.46%	4.10%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

7.8% of Charlie’s shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.0% of Universal shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.9% of Charlie’s shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Universal 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.

Summary

Universal beats Charlie’s on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Charlie’s

Charlie's Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, formulates, markets, and distributes non-combustible nicotine-related, alternative alkaloid vapor, and hemp-derived vapor and edible products. It sells its products through distributors, specialty retailers, and third-party online resellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Charlie's Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California.

About Universal

Universal Corporation processes and supplies leaf tobacco and plant-based ingredients worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Tobacco Operations; and Ingredients Operations. It is involved in the procuring, financing, processing, packing, storing, and shipping leaf tobacco for sale to manufacturers of consumer tobacco products. The company contracts, purchases, processes, and sells flue-cured, burley, and oriental tobaccos that are primarily used in the manufacture of cigarettes; and dark air-cured tobaccos principally used in the manufacture of cigars, natural wrapped cigars and cigarillos, smokeless, and pipe tobacco products. It also provides value-added services, including blending, chemical, and physical testing of tobacco; service cutting for various manufacturers; manufacturing reconstituted leaf tobacco; just-in-time inventory management services; electronic nicotine delivery systems; and smoke testing services for customers. In addition, the company offers testing services for crop protection agents and tobacco constituents in seed, leaf, and finished products, including e-cigarette liquids and vapors; and analytical services that include chemical compound testing in finished tobacco products and mainstream smoke. Further, it provides a various value-added manufacturing processes to produce specialty vegetable and fruit-based ingredients, as well as botanical extracts and flavorings for human and pet food markets; and recycles waste materials from tobacco production. Universal Corporation was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.