Reviewing Nestle (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) and National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE)

Nestle (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) and National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Nestle and National Vision’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nestle	N/A	N/A	N/A
National Vision	-0.75%	3.56%	1.49%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.6% of Nestle shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of National Vision shares are held by 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Nestle and National Vision”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nestle	$103.78 billion	2.25	$12.36 billion	N/A	N/A
National Vision	$1.82 billion	1.15	-$28.50 million	($0.18)	-146.83

Nestle has higher revenue and earnings than National Vision.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Nestle and National Vision, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nestle	1	4	0	1	2.17
National Vision	0	4	6	0	2.60

Nestle currently has a consensus target price of $91.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.50%. National Vision has a consensus target price of $24.73, indicating a potential downside of 6.44%. Given Nestle’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Nestle is more favorable than National Vision.

Risk & Volatility

Nestle has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Vision has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Nestle beats National Vision on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nestle

Nestlé S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food and beverage company. The company operates through Zone North America; Zone Europe; Zone Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Zone Latin America; Zone Greater China; Nespresso; and Nestlé Health Science segments. It offers baby foods under the Cerelac, Gerber, Nido, and NaturNes brands; bottled water under the Nestlé Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, Buxton, Erikli, and S.Pellegrino brands; cereals under the Fitness, Nesquik, cheerios, and Lion Cereals brands; and chocolate and confectionery products under the KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Nestlé Les Recettes de l'Atelier, Milkybar, Baci Perugina, Quality Street, and Fitness brands. The company provides coffee products under the Nescafé, Nespresso, Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Starbucks Coffee At Home, and Blue Bottle Coffee brands; culinary, chilled, and frozen foods under the Maggi, DiGiorno, Thomy, Garden Gourmet, Sweet Earth, Hot Pockets, Stouffer's, Buitoni, Lean, and Life Cuisine brands; dairy products under the Carnation, Nido, Bear, Coffee-Mate, and La Laitière brands; and drinks under the Nesquik, Nestea, Nescafé, and Milo brands. In addition, it offers food service products under the Milo, Nescafé, Maggi, Chef, Nestea, Stouffer's, Chef-Mate, Minor's, and Lean Cuisine brand names; healthcare nutrition products under the Boost, Garden of Life, Nature's Bounty, Persona, Vital Proteins, Solgar, Peptamen, Resource, Vitaflo, Impact, and Compleat brands; ice cream products under the Movenpick, Häagen-Dazs, Nestlé Ice Cream, and Extrême brands; and pet care products under the Purina, ONE, Alpo, Felix, Pro Plan, Cat Chow, Fancy Feast, Bakers, Friskies, Dog Chow, Beneful, and Gourmet brands. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.

About National Vision

National Vision Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America’s Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services. National Vision Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.