Critical Contrast: Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) & Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE)

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) and Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kenvue and Honest”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kenvue	$15.12 billion	2.46	$1.47 billion	$0.87	22.30
Honest	$371.32 million	1.54	-$15.69 million	($0.11)	-47.27

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Kenvue and Honest, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kenvue	0	12	3	0	2.20
Honest	2	4	2	1	2.22

Kenvue currently has a consensus target price of $19.27, suggesting a potential downside of 0.68%. Honest has a consensus target price of $4.84, suggesting a potential downside of 6.92%. Given Kenvue’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Kenvue is more favorable than Honest.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.6% of Kenvue shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.5% of Honest shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Kenvue shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of Honest shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Kenvue and Honest’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kenvue	10.76%	21.22%	8.37%
Honest	-3.56%	4.31%	3.33%

Risk and Volatility

Kenvue has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Honest has a beta of 2.12, indicating that its share price is 112% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Kenvue beats Honest on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kenvue

Kenvue Inc. operates as a consumer health company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health. The Self Care segment offers cough, cold and allergy, pain care, digestive health, smoking cessation, eye care, and other products under the Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Nicorette, Zarbee's, ORSLTM, Rhinocort, Calpol, and Zyrtec brands. The Skin Health and Beauty segment provides face and body care, hair, sun, and other care products under the Neutrogena, Aveeno, Dr.Ci:Labo, Le Petit Marseillais, Lubriderm, Rogaine, and OGX brand names. The Essential Health segment offers oral and baby, women's health, wound, and other care products under the Listerine, Johnson's, Band-Aid, and Stayfree, o.b., tampons, Carefree, and Desitin Diaper Rash brands. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is headquartered in Skillman, New Jersey.

About Honest

The Honest Company, Inc. manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.