Contrasting WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) & Energizer (NYSE:ENR)

Energizer (NYSE:ENR) and WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and dividends.

Dividends

Energizer pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. WD-40 pays an annual dividend of $4.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Energizer pays out 44.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WD-40 pays out 69.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. WD-40 has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Energizer is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Energizer has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WD-40 has a beta of 0.26, indicating that its stock price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.7% of Energizer shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.5% of WD-40 shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Energizer shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of WD-40 shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Energizer and WD-40, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Energizer	0	7	1	0	2.12
WD-40	0	1	2	1	3.00

Energizer currently has a consensus price target of $23.14, indicating a potential upside of 8.55%. WD-40 has a consensus price target of $270.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.56%. Given WD-40’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WD-40 is more favorable than Energizer.

Profitability

This table compares Energizer and WD-40’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Energizer	6.55%	144.22%	5.37%
WD-40	12.57%	30.23%	17.15%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Energizer and WD-40″s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Energizer	$2.98 billion	0.49	$239.00 million	$2.73	7.81
WD-40	$619.98 million	5.35	$90.99 million	$5.88	41.91

Energizer has higher revenue and earnings than WD-40. Energizer is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WD-40, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

WD-40 beats Energizer on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Energizer

Energizer Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer, Eveready, and Rayovac brands; primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries; and handheld, headlights, lanterns, and area lights, as well as flashlights under the Hard Case, Dolphin, and WeatherReady brands. The company licenses the Energizer, Rayovac, and Eveready brands to companies developing consumer solutions in solar, automotive batteries, portable power for critical devices, generators, power tools, household light bulbs, and other lighting products. In addition, it designs and markets automotive fragrance and appearance products, including protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products, air fresheners, and washes to clean, shine, refresh, and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces under the brand names of Armor All, Nu Finish, Refresh Your Car!, LEXOL, Eagle One, California Scents, Driven, Bahama & Co, Carnu, Grand Prix, Kit, and Tempo; STP branded fuel and oil additives, functional fluids, and other performance chemical products; and do-it-yourself automotive air conditioning recharge products under the A/C PRO brand name, as well as other refrigerant and recharge kits, sealants, and accessories. The company sells its products through direct sales force, distributors, and wholesalers; and various retail and business-to-business channels, including mass merchandisers, club, electronics, food, home improvement, dollar store, auto, drug, hardware, e-commerce, convenience, sporting goods, hobby/craft, office, industrial, medical, and catalog. Energizer Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

About WD-40

WD-40 Company develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides multi-purpose maintenance products that include aerosol sprays, non-aerosol trigger sprays, precision pens, and in liquid-bulk form products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand name; specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants, and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand; and bike-specific products. It also offers multi-purpose and specialty drip oils, and spray lubricant products, as well as other specialty maintenance products under the 3-IN-ONE brand name; and professional spray maintenance products and lubricants for the bike maintenance market under the GT85 brand name. In addition, the company provides automatic toilet bowl cleaners under the 2000 Flushes brand name; aerosol and liquid trigger carpet stain and odor eliminators under the Spot Shot brand; room and rug deodorizers under the Carpet Fresh brand name; carpet and household cleaners, and rug and room deodorizers under the 1001 brand; heavy-duty hand cleaner products under the Lava brand name in the United States, as well as under the Solvol brand name in Australia; and automatic toilet bowl cleaners under the X-14 brand name. It sells its products primarily through warehouse club stores, hardware stores, automotive parts outlets, industrial distributors and suppliers, mass retail and home center stores, value retailers, grocery stores, online retailers, farm supply, sport retailers, and independent bike dealers. WD-40 Company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.