Contrasting Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) & Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV)

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) and Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.6% of Grove Collaborative shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Leslie’s shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 29.4% of Grove Collaborative shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Leslie’s has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grove Collaborative has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Leslie’s and Grove Collaborative, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Leslie’s	1	9	0	0	1.90
Grove Collaborative	0	1	1	0	2.50

Leslie’s presently has a consensus price target of $1.60, indicating a potential upside of 393.52%. Grove Collaborative has a consensus price target of $1.35, indicating a potential downside of 8.78%. Given Leslie’s’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Leslie’s is more favorable than Grove Collaborative.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Leslie’s and Grove Collaborative”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Leslie’s	$1.33 billion	0.05	-$23.38 million	($0.45)	-0.72
Grove Collaborative	$203.43 million	0.30	-$27.42 million	($0.58)	-2.55

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

Profitability

This table compares Leslie’s and Grove Collaborative’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Leslie’s	-6.72%	N/A	-4.96%
Grove Collaborative	-11.41%	-6,372.67%	-21.21%

Summary

Leslie’s beats Grove Collaborative on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative Holdings, Inc. operates as a plastic neutral consumer products retailer in the United States. It offers household, personal care, beauty, and other consumer products through retail channels, third parties, direct-to-consumer platform, and mobile applications, as well as online store. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.