L’Oreal (OTCMKTS:LRLCY) & e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Head to Head Comparison

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) and L’Oreal (OTCMKTS:LRLCY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.4% of e.l.f. Beauty shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.4% of L’Oreal shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of e.l.f. Beauty shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares e.l.f. Beauty and L’Oreal’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
e.l.f. Beauty	3.38%	14.07%	6.81%
L’Oreal	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for e.l.f. Beauty and L’Oreal, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
e.l.f. Beauty	1	5	10	2	2.72
L’Oreal	1	4	7	1	2.62

e.l.f. Beauty currently has a consensus price target of $92.12, indicating a potential downside of 15.43%. L’Oreal has a consensus price target of $100.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.15%. Given L’Oreal’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe L’Oreal is more favorable than e.l.f. Beauty.

Risk and Volatility

e.l.f. Beauty has a beta of 1.58, meaning that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, L’Oreal has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares e.l.f. Beauty and L’Oreal”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
e.l.f. Beauty	$1.64 billion	3.93	$26.32 million	$1.00	108.93
L’Oreal	$49.83 billion	4.77	$6.93 billion	N/A	N/A

L’Oreal has higher revenue and earnings than e.l.f. Beauty.

Summary

e.l.f. Beauty beats L’Oreal on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of inclusive, accessible, clean, vegan and cruelty free cosmetics and skin care products. The company focuses on the e-commerce, national retailers and international business channels. Its brands include elf, elf skin, WELL People and KEYS soulcare. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.

About L’Oreal

L'Oréal S.A., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic products for women and men worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Consumer Products, L'oréal Luxe, Professional Products, and Dermatological Beauty. It offers skincare, make-up, hair colourants, haircare, perfumes, and hygiene products. The company provides its products under the L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Stylenanda, Essie, Dark & Lovely, Mixa, Magic Mask, Niley, Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Kiehl's Since 1851, Helena Rubinstein, Biotherm, Shu Uemura, IT Cosmetics, Ralph Lauren Fragrance, Urban Decay, Mugler, Valentino, Viktor&Rolf, Azzaro, Prada, Cacharel, Maison Margela Fragrance, Diesel, Yue Sai, Atelier Colonge, Carita, Takami, Aesop, L'Oréal Professionnel Paris, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix, Pureology, Pulp Riot, La Roche-Posay, Vichy, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals, and Skinbetter Science brands. It sells its products through distribution channels, such as hair salons, local stores, e-commerce, travel retail, mass market retail, department store perfumeries, pharmacies, drug stores, medi-spas, and free-standing stores. L'Oréal S.A. was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Clichy, France.