Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) & RLX Technology (NYSE:RLX) Head-To-Head Contrast

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) and RLX Technology (NYSE:RLX) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Lifetime Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. RLX Technology pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Lifetime Brands pays out -10.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. RLX Technology pays out 142.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lifetime Brands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

40.6% of Lifetime Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.7% of RLX Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 43.6% of Lifetime Brands shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 53.4% of RLX Technology 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.

Profitability

This table compares Lifetime Brands and RLX Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lifetime Brands	-5.16%	0.12%	0.04%
RLX Technology	21.05%	4.74%	4.44%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lifetime Brands and RLX Technology”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lifetime Brands	$659.07 million	0.13	-$15.16 million	($1.66)	-2.27
RLX Technology	$3.27 billion	1.18	$75.60 million	$0.07	35.07

RLX Technology has higher revenue and earnings than Lifetime Brands. Lifetime Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than RLX Technology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Lifetime Brands and RLX Technology, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lifetime Brands	2	1	1	0	1.75
RLX Technology	0	2	0	0	2.00

Lifetime Brands currently has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.98%. RLX Technology has a consensus target price of $2.25, suggesting a potential downside of 8.35%. Given Lifetime Brands’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Lifetime Brands is more favorable than RLX Technology.

Volatility and Risk

Lifetime Brands has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RLX Technology has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

RLX Technology beats Lifetime Brands on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lifetime Brands

Lifetime Brands, Inc. designs, sources, and sells branded kitchenware, tableware, and other products for use in the home in the worldwide. The company provides kitchenware products, including kitchen tools and gadgets, cutlery, kitchen scales, thermometers, cutting boards, shears, cookware, pantryware, spice racks, and bakeware; and tableware products comprising dinnerware, stemware, flatware, and giftware. It also provides home solutions, such as thermal beverageware, bath scales, weather and outdoor household, food storage, neoprene travel, and home décor products. The company owns or licenses various brands, including the Farberware, Mikasa, Taylor, KitchenAid, Pfaltzgraff, BUILT NY, Rabbit, Kamenstein, S’well, and Fred & Friends. It serves mass market merchants, specialty stores, department stores, warehouse clubs, grocery stores, off-price retailers, food service distributors, food and beverage outlets, and e-commerce. The company sells its products directly, as well as through its retail websites. Lifetime Brands, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Garden City, New York.

About RLX Technology

RLX Technology Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of e-vapor products in the People's Republic of China and internationally. It serves partner distributors and retail outlets. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.