Contrasting Unicharm (OTCMKTS:UNICY) and Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE)

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) and Unicharm (OTCMKTS:UNICY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Kenvue and Unicharm’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kenvue	10.61%	20.81%	8.21%
Unicharm	6.33%	6.85%	5.01%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.6% of Kenvue shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Kenvue shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Kenvue has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unicharm has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Kenvue and Unicharm, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kenvue	0	13	3	0	2.19
Unicharm	0	1	0	1	3.00

Kenvue currently has a consensus target price of $19.58, suggesting a potential upside of 1.76%. Given Kenvue’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Kenvue is more favorable than Unicharm.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kenvue	$15.12 billion	2.44	$1.47 billion	$0.85	22.64
Unicharm	$6.32 billion	1.71	$436.93 million	$0.12	25.92

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

Dividends

Kenvue pays an annual dividend of $0.83 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Unicharm pays an annual dividend of $0.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Kenvue pays out 97.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Unicharm pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kenvue has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Kenvue is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Kenvue beats Unicharm on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kenvue

Kenvue Inc. operates as a consumer health company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health. The Self Care segment offers cough, cold and allergy, pain care, digestive health, smoking cessation, eye care, and other products under the Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Nicorette, Zarbee's, ORSLTM, Rhinocort, Calpol, and Zyrtec brands. The Skin Health and Beauty segment provides face and body care, hair, sun, and other care products under the Neutrogena, Aveeno, Dr.Ci:Labo, Le Petit Marseillais, Lubriderm, Rogaine, and OGX brand names. The Essential Health segment offers oral and baby, women's health, wound, and other care products under the Listerine, Johnson's, Band-Aid, and Stayfree, o.b., tampons, Carefree, and Desitin Diaper Rash brands. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is headquartered in Skillman, New Jersey.

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.