WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) and National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) Financial Analysis

National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) and WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) are both mid-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Vision	-0.12%	3.58%	1.52%
WD-40	14.42%	30.10%	16.79%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.5% of WD-40 shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of National Vision shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of WD-40 shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for National Vision and WD-40, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Vision	1	4	6	2	2.69
WD-40	0	1	1	0	2.50

National Vision currently has a consensus target price of $29.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.38%. WD-40 has a consensus target price of $300.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.89%. Given WD-40’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WD-40 is more favorable than National Vision.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares National Vision and WD-40″s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Vision	$1.82 billion	1.19	-$28.50 million	($0.03)	-908.67
WD-40	$619.98 million	5.27	$90.99 million	$6.57	36.86

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

Volatility and Risk

National Vision has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WD-40 has a beta of 0.18, suggesting that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

WD-40 beats National Vision on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Vision

National Vision Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an optical retailer in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Owned & Host and Legacy. It offers eyeglasses and contact lenses, and optical accessory products; provides eye exams through its America’s Best, Eyeglass World, Vista Optical, Fred Meyer, and Vista Optical military, as well as Vision Center branded stores; and offers health maintenance organization and optometric services. National Vision Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.

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.