Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) vs. Unicharm (OTCMKTS:UNICY) Critical Contrast

Unicharm (OTCMKTS:UNICY) and Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Unicharm and Kimberly-Clark’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unicharm	6.21%	6.70%	4.93%
Kimberly-Clark	19.93%	114.93%	13.83%

Dividends

Unicharm pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Kimberly-Clark pays an annual dividend of $5.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Unicharm pays out 33.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kimberly-Clark pays out 51.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Kimberly-Clark has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years. Kimberly-Clark is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Unicharm and Kimberly-Clark”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Unicharm	$6.32 billion	1.78	$436.93 million	$0.12	26.92
Kimberly-Clark	$16.45 billion	2.19	$2.02 billion	$9.91	10.94

Kimberly-Clark has higher revenue and earnings than Unicharm. Kimberly-Clark is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Unicharm, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.3% of Kimberly-Clark shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Kimberly-Clark shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Unicharm and Kimberly-Clark, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unicharm	0	2	0	0	2.00
Kimberly-Clark	2	10	4	1	2.24

Kimberly-Clark has a consensus price target of $112.60, indicating a potential upside of 3.85%. Given Kimberly-Clark’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Kimberly-Clark is more favorable than Unicharm.

Volatility & Risk

Unicharm has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kimberly-Clark has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Kimberly-Clark beats Unicharm on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Unicharm

Unicharm Corporation engages in the manufacturing and sale of wellness, feminine, baby and children, kirei, and pet care products in Japan and internationally. The company's baby and child care products, including disposable diapers and wipes under the Moony, MamyPoko, Oyasumiman, and Torepanman brands; feminine care products comprise napkins, tampons, panty liners, sanitary short, panty liners, and other feminine care products under the Sofy, Center-In, and Unicharm brand names; and wellness care products include napkin-type incontinence pads, pants-type diapers, tape-type diapers, pants-type specialized urine pads, and tape-type specialized urine pads under the Lifree and Charmnap brand. It also provides masks under the Unicharm brand; home care products, including cleaning sheets under the Wave brand name; cosmetic cotton and wet wipes under the Silcot brand; and paper towels under the Cook Up brand name. In addition, the company offers pet care products that include pet foods, excrement cleanup sheets, system toilets, and disposable diapers under the Grand Deli, Best Balance, Physicalife Dog, Silver Plate, Aiken Genki, Manner Wear, Deo Sheet, Silver Spoon, AllWell, Physicalife Cat, Deo Toilet, Deo Sand, Deo Clean, and Neko Genki brands; and deodorizing beads. Further, it is involved in the manufacture and sale of industrial materials related products, etc., as well as food-packaging materials. Unicharm Corporation was incorporated in 1941 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company’s Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names. Its Consumer Tissue segment provides facial and bathroom tissues, paper towels, napkins, and related products under the Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, Viva, Andrex, Scottex, Neve, and other brand names. The company’s K-C Professional segment offers wipers, tissues, towels, apparel, personal protective equipment, soaps, and sanitizers under the Kleenex, Scott, WypAll, Kimtech, and KleenGuard brands. It also sells household use products directly to supermarkets, mass merchandisers, drugstores, warehouse clubs, variety and department stores, and other retail outlets, as well as through other distributors and e-commerce; and away-from-home use products directly to distributors, manufacturing, lodging, office building, food service, and public facilities, as well as through e-commerce. Kimberly-Clark Corporation was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.