Head-To-Head Comparison: Hamilton Beach Brands (NYSE:HBB) versus VU1 (OTCMKTS:VUOC)

Hamilton Beach Brands (NYSE:HBB) and VU1 (OTCMKTS:VUOC) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Hamilton Beach Brands and VU1’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hamilton Beach Brands	5.10%	20.03%	8.02%
VU1	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

50.6% of Hamilton Beach Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 34.7% of Hamilton Beach Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hamilton Beach Brands and VU1″s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hamilton Beach Brands	$654.69 million	0.28	$30.76 million	$2.35	5.87
VU1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Hamilton Beach Brands has higher revenue and earnings than VU1.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Hamilton Beach Brands and VU1, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hamilton Beach Brands	0	1	0	0	2.00
VU1	0	0	0	0	0.00

Given VU1’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe VU1 is more favorable than Hamilton Beach Brands.

Summary

Hamilton Beach Brands beats VU1 on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hamilton Beach Brands

Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, markets, and distributes small electric household and specialty housewares appliances in the United States and internationally. It offers air fryers, blenders, coffee makers, food processors, indoor electric grills, irons, juicers, mixers, slow cookers, toasters, and toaster ovens. The company also provides consumer products under the Hamilton Beach and Proctor Silex brands; products under the Hamilton Beach Professional in the premium market; farm-to-table and field-to-table food processing equipment under the Weston brand; countertop appliances under the Wolf Gourmet brand; garment care products under the CHI brand; cocktail delivery system under the Bartesian brand; air purifiers under the Clorox and TrueAir brands; and water filtration systems under the Brita brand. In addition, it offers injection care management system under the Hamilton Beach Health brand; and commercial products under the Hamilton Beach Commercial and the Proctor Silex Commercial brands, as well as supplies private label products. The company sells its products through a network of mass merchandisers, e-commerce retailers, national department stores, variety store and drug store chains, specialty home retailers, distributors, restaurants, fast food chains, bars, hotels, and other retail outlets. Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.

About VU1

Vu1 Corp. designs, develops and sells mercury-free lighting products using its proprietary Electron Stimulated Luminescence (ESL) technology. It’s ESL lights use a form of cathode-ray tube technology in which accelerated electrons stimulate phosphor to create light, making the surface of lights glow in a highly energy-efficient manner and with a warm natural light. The company was founded on August 30, 1996 and is headquartered in New York, NY.