Comparing Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) and Krispy Kreme (NASDAQ:DNUT)

Krispy Kreme (NASDAQ:DNUT) and Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

81.7% of Krispy Kreme shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.9% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Krispy Kreme shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Krispy Kreme and Edgewell Personal Care, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Krispy Kreme	2	6	4	0	2.17
Edgewell Personal Care	1	4	3	0	2.25

Krispy Kreme presently has a consensus price target of $5.51, indicating a potential upside of 30.52%. Edgewell Personal Care has a consensus price target of $23.17, indicating a potential upside of 32.84%. Given Edgewell Personal Care’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Edgewell Personal Care is more favorable than Krispy Kreme.

Profitability

This table compares Krispy Kreme and Edgewell Personal Care’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Krispy Kreme	-33.27%	-5.13%	-1.67%
Edgewell Personal Care	1.14%	7.85%	3.21%

Volatility and Risk

Krispy Kreme has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Edgewell Personal Care has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Krispy Kreme and Edgewell Personal Care”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Krispy Kreme	$1.67 billion	0.43	$3.10 million	($2.99)	-1.41
Edgewell Personal Care	$2.22 billion	0.37	$25.40 million	$0.52	33.54

Edgewell Personal Care has higher revenue and earnings than Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Edgewell Personal Care, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Edgewell Personal Care beats Krispy Kreme on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces doughnuts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S., International, and Market Development. The company offers doughnut experiences through hot light theater and fresh shops, delivered fresh daily branded cabinets and merchandising units within grocery and convenience stores, quick service restaurants, club memberships, drug stores, and ecommerce, as well as through its branded sweet treat line comprising Krispy Kreme branded sweet treats. It also provides cookies under the Insomnia Cookies brand, cookie cakes, ice cream, cookie-wiches, and brownies; and operates Krispy Kreme company-owned shops and franchise shops. The company was formerly known as Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. and changed its name to Krispy Kreme, Inc. in May 2021. Krispy Kreme, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other. Its Wet shave products are sold under the Schick, Wilkinson Sword, Edge, Skintimate, Shave Guard and Personna brand names. Its Sun and Skin Care products are sold under the Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Wet Ones and Playtex brand names and offers Wet Ones, portable hand wipes category, and Playtex household gloves, the branded household glove in the United States. Its Feminine Care segment markets its products under the Playtex, Stayfree, Carefree and o.b. brands and markets pads and liners. Its All Other segment includes infant care, pet care and miscellaneous other products.