Head-To-Head Comparison: Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) vs. Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY)

Warby Parker (NYSE:WRBY) and Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.2% of Warby Parker shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.9% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.8% of Warby Parker shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Edgewell Personal Care shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Warby Parker	0.15%	2.30%	1.18%
Edgewell Personal Care	-3.69%	6.31%	2.57%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Warby Parker 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
Warby Parker	$871.91 million	3.08	$1.64 million	$0.02	1,254.25
Edgewell Personal Care	$2.22 billion	0.39	$25.40 million	($1.67)	-11.19

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Warby Parker and Edgewell Personal Care, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Warby Parker	0	5	9	0	2.64
Edgewell Personal Care	1	4	3	0	2.25

Warby Parker presently has a consensus price target of $29.50, indicating a potential upside of 17.60%. Edgewell Personal Care has a consensus price target of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 31.16%. Given Edgewell Personal Care’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Edgewell Personal Care is more favorable than Warby Parker.

Risk & Volatility

Warby Parker has a beta of 1.96, indicating that its stock price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Edgewell Personal Care has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Warby Parker beats Edgewell Personal Care on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Warby Parker

Warby Parker Inc. provides eyewear products in the United States and Canada. The company offers eyeglasses, sunglasses, light-responsive lenses, blue-light-filtering lenses, non-prescription lenses, and contact lenses. It also provides accessories, such as cases, lenses kit with anti-fog spray, pouches, and anti-fog lens spray through its retail stores, website, and mobile apps. In addition, the company offers eye exams and vision tests. Warby Parker Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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.