Contrasting BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) and Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC)

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) and BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.9% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.6% of BJ’s Wholesale Club shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of BJ’s Wholesale Club shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Edgewell Personal Care and BJ’s Wholesale Club”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Edgewell Personal Care	$2.22 billion	0.36	$25.40 million	($1.67)	-10.45
BJ’s Wholesale Club	$21.46 billion	0.51	$578.38 million	$4.35	19.79

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

Risk & Volatility

Edgewell Personal Care has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BJ’s Wholesale Club has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Edgewell Personal Care and BJ’s Wholesale Club, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Edgewell Personal Care	1	4	3	0	2.25
BJ’s Wholesale Club	1	8	9	0	2.44

Edgewell Personal Care currently has a consensus price target of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 40.33%. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a consensus price target of $105.27, indicating a potential upside of 22.25%. Given Edgewell Personal Care’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Edgewell Personal Care is more favorable than BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Profitability

This table compares Edgewell Personal Care and BJ’s Wholesale Club’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Edgewell Personal Care	-3.69%	6.31%	2.57%
BJ’s Wholesale Club	2.62%	26.67%	7.59%

Summary

BJ’s Wholesale Club beats Edgewell Personal Care on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. engages in the operation of membership warehouse clubs. Its product categories include grocery, household and pet, television and electronics, furniture, computer and tablets, patio and outdoor living, lawn and garden, baby and kids, toys, home, health and beauty, appliances, and jewelry. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Marlborough, MA.