Comparing Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) and Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL)

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) and Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Leslie’s and Bath & Body Works, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Leslie’s	1	11	0	0	1.92
Bath & Body Works	0	4	14	0	2.78

Leslie’s presently has a consensus target price of $2.27, suggesting a potential upside of 166.62%. Bath & Body Works has a consensus target price of $41.69, suggesting a potential upside of 22.94%. Given Leslie’s’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Leslie’s is more favorable than Bath & Body Works.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Leslie’s and Bath & Body Works”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Leslie’s	$1.32 billion	0.12	-$23.38 million	($0.24)	-3.55
Bath & Body Works	$7.31 billion	0.99	$878.00 million	$3.64	9.32

Bath & Body Works has higher revenue and earnings than Leslie’s. Leslie’s is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bath & Body Works, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Leslie’s and Bath & Body Works’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Leslie’s	-2.13%	-6.11%	-1.08%
Bath & Body Works	12.43%	-44.03%	14.45%

Risk and Volatility

Leslie’s has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bath & Body Works has a beta of 1.87, meaning that its share price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.1% of Bath & Body Works shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Leslie’s shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Bath & Body Works shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Bath & Body Works beats Leslie’s on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Leslie’s

Leslie’s, Inc. operates as a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand in the United States. The company markets and sells pool and spa supplies and related products and services. It also offers various pool and spa maintenance items, such as chemicals, equipment and parts, cleaning and maintenance equipment, safety, recreational, and fitness related products. In addition, the company provides installation and repair services for pool and spa equipment. It also sells its products through e-commerce websites and third-party marketplaces. The company offers complimentary, commercial-grade in-store, water testing, and analysis services. It serves the residential, professional, and commercial consumers. Leslie’s, Inc. was founded in 1963 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc. is a specialty retailers and home to America’s Favorite Fragrances, offering a breadth of exclusive fragrances for the body and home, including the selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap. The company was founded by Leslie Herbert Wexner in 1963 and is headquartered in Columbus, OH.