Head-To-Head Survey: Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) versus WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) and WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Colgate-Palmolive and WD-40, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colgate-Palmolive	0	7	12	0	2.63
WD-40	0	1	2	1	3.00

Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus target price of $96.29, suggesting a potential upside of 5.93%. WD-40 has a consensus target price of $270.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.77%. Given WD-40’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe WD-40 is more favorable than Colgate-Palmolive.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.4% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.5% of WD-40 shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of WD-40 shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Colgate-Palmolive has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WD-40 has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Colgate-Palmolive and WD-40″s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colgate-Palmolive	$20.38 billion	3.57	$2.13 billion	$2.57	35.37
WD-40	$619.98 million	5.19	$90.99 million	$5.88	40.72

Colgate-Palmolive has higher revenue and earnings than WD-40. Colgate-Palmolive is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WD-40, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Colgate-Palmolive pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. WD-40 pays an annual dividend of $4.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Colgate-Palmolive pays out 82.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. WD-40 pays out 69.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Colgate-Palmolive has raised its dividend for 63 consecutive years and WD-40 has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Colgate-Palmolive is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Colgate-Palmolive and WD-40’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colgate-Palmolive	10.04%	386.76%	17.89%
WD-40	12.57%	30.23%	17.15%

Summary

WD-40 beats Colgate-Palmolive on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items. This segment markets and sells its products under various brands, which include Colgate, Darlie, elmex, hello, meridol, Sorriso, Tom's of Maine, Irish Spring, Palmolive, Protex, Sanex, Softsoap, Lady Speed Stick, Speed Stick, EltaMD, Filorga, PCA SKIN, Ajax, Axion, Fabuloso, Murphy, Suavitel, and Soupline to a range of traditional and eCommerce retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. It includes pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals. Its Pet Nutrition segment offers pet nutrition products for everyday nutritional needs under the Hill's Science Diet brand; and a range of therapeutic pet products to help nutritionally support dogs and cats in different stages of health under the Hill's Prescription Diet brand. This segment markets and sells its products through pet supply retailers, veterinarians, and eCommerce retailers. Colgate-Palmolive Company was founded in 1806 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About WD-40

WD-40 Company develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides multi-purpose maintenance products that include aerosol sprays, non-aerosol trigger sprays, precision pens, and in liquid-bulk form products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand name; specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants, and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand; and bike-specific products. It also offers multi-purpose and specialty drip oils, and spray lubricant products, as well as other specialty maintenance products under the 3-IN-ONE brand name; and professional spray maintenance products and lubricants for the bike maintenance market under the GT85 brand name. In addition, the company provides automatic toilet bowl cleaners under the 2000 Flushes brand name; aerosol and liquid trigger carpet stain and odor eliminators under the Spot Shot brand; room and rug deodorizers under the Carpet Fresh brand name; carpet and household cleaners, and rug and room deodorizers under the 1001 brand; heavy-duty hand cleaner products under the Lava brand name in the United States, as well as under the Solvol brand name in Australia; and automatic toilet bowl cleaners under the X-14 brand name. It sells its products primarily through warehouse club stores, hardware stores, automotive parts outlets, industrial distributors and suppliers, mass retail and home center stores, value retailers, grocery stores, online retailers, farm supply, sport retailers, and independent bike dealers. WD-40 Company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.