Reviewing Kingfisher (OTCMKTS:KGFHY) & Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Kingfisher (OTCMKTS:KGFHY) and Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Kingfisher has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ulta Beauty has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Kingfisher shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Ulta Beauty shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Ulta Beauty shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Kingfisher and Ulta Beauty, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kingfisher	2	2	1	0	1.80
Ulta Beauty	1	12	12	0	2.44

Ulta Beauty has a consensus price target of $473.00, suggesting a potential downside of 8.34%. Given Ulta Beauty’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ulta Beauty is more favorable than Kingfisher.

Profitability

This table compares Kingfisher and Ulta Beauty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kingfisher	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ulta Beauty	10.45%	49.73%	20.15%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kingfisher and Ulta Beauty”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kingfisher	$16.34 billion	0.40	$235.86 million	N/A	N/A
Ulta Beauty	$11.30 billion	2.05	$1.20 billion	$25.60	20.16

Ulta Beauty has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Kingfisher.

Summary

Ulta Beauty beats Kingfisher on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kingfisher

Kingfisher plc, together with its subsidiaries, supplies home improvement products and services primarily in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and internationally. It also operates retail stores under the B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, Screwfix, TradePoint, and Koçtas brands. The company sells its products through stores and e-commerce channels. Kingfisher plc was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc. operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications. It also offers beauty services, including hair, makeup, brow, and skin services at its stores. The company was formerly known as ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. and changed its name to Ulta Beauty, Inc. in January 2017. Ulta Beauty, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Bolingbrook, Illinois.