Financial Contrast: Shiseido (OTCMKTS:SSDOY) & Solesence (NASDAQ:SLSN)

Shiseido (OTCMKTS:SSDOY) and Solesence (NASDAQ:SLSN) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Shiseido shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.2% of Solesence shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.8% of Solesence shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Shiseido and Solesence, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shiseido	0	1	0	0	2.00
Solesence	0	1	0	0	2.00

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Shiseido and Solesence”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shiseido	$6.55 billion	1.02	-$68.94 million	($0.02)	-832.50
Solesence	$52.35 million	4.77	$4.24 million	$0.07	50.57

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

Profitability

This table compares Shiseido and Solesence’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shiseido	-0.10%	-0.15%	-0.07%
Solesence	8.13%	32.99%	9.74%

Volatility and Risk

Shiseido has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Solesence has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Solesence beats Shiseido on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shiseido

Shiseido Company, Limited engages in the production and sale of cosmetics in Japan and internationally. The company offers fragrances; and skincare and makeup products. It also engages in the restaurant and food, and retail businesses; and operates beauty salons. In addition, the company operates and supports SABFA, a professional hair makeup training school. Further, it offers childcare facilities. The company sells its products through department, specialized cosmetic, drug, and general merchandise stores. Shiseido Company, Limited was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Solesence

Nanophase Technologies Corporation provides engineered materials, formulation development, and commercial manufacturing with an integrated family of technologies in the United States. It offers surface engineered zinc oxide and titanium dioxide for sunscreens and personal care products; fully formulated cosmetics, sun care, and skin care under the Solésence brand name; and advanced materials products, such as architectural coatings, industrial coatings, abrasion-resistant additives, plastics additives, medical diagnostics, and various surface finishing technologies applications. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Romeoville, Illinois.