Comparing Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) and Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL)

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) and Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Church & Dwight has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Leslie’s has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Church & Dwight and Leslie’s’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Church & Dwight	11.81%	20.51%	9.62%
Leslie’s	-22.64%	N/A	-8.22%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.6% of Church & Dwight shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Church & Dwight shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Leslie’s shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Church & Dwight and Leslie’s, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Church & Dwight	1	8	9	0	2.44
Leslie’s	2	4	1	0	1.86

Church & Dwight presently has a consensus target price of $102.53, suggesting a potential upside of 8.99%. Leslie’s has a consensus target price of $2.85, suggesting a potential downside of 5.94%. Given Church & Dwight’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Church & Dwight is more favorable than Leslie’s.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Church & Dwight and Leslie’s”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Church & Dwight	$6.20 billion	3.59	$736.80 million	$3.04	30.94
Leslie’s	$1.24 billion	0.02	-$236.97 million	($29.69)	-0.10

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

Summary

Church & Dwight beats Leslie’s on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, Specialty Products Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements. The Consumer International segment is involved in the personal care, household and over-the-counter products in international subsidiary markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, China, and the United Kingdom. The SPD segment consists of sales to businesses and participates in three product areas namely, animal nutrition, specialty chemicals, and commercial and professional. The Corporate segment includes equity in earnings of affiliates. The company was founded by Dwight John and Austin Church in 1846 and is headquartered in Ewing, NJ.

About Leslie’s

Leslie’s, Inc. operates as a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand in the United States. The company markets and sells pool and spa supplies and related products and services. It also offers various pool and spa maintenance items, such as chemicals, equipment and parts, cleaning and maintenance equipment, safety, recreational, and fitness related products. In addition, the company provides installation and repair services for pool and spa equipment. It also sells its products through e-commerce websites and third-party marketplaces. The company offers complimentary, commercial-grade in-store, water testing, and analysis services. It serves the residential, professional, and commercial consumers. Leslie’s, Inc. was founded in 1963 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.