Analyzing Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) & Waldencast (NASDAQ:WALDW)

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) and Waldencast (NASDAQ:WALDW) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

45.5% of Honest shares are held by institutional investors. 9.4% of Honest shares are held 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 Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Honest and Waldencast, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Honest	2	4	2	1	2.22
Waldencast	0	0	0	0	0.00

Honest presently has a consensus price target of $4.38, indicating a potential downside of 16.25%. Given Honest’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Honest is more favorable than Waldencast.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Honest and Waldencast”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Honest	$371.32 million	1.55	-$15.69 million	($0.11)	-47.55
Waldencast	$272.07 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Waldencast has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Honest.

Profitability

This table compares Honest and Waldencast’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Honest	-3.56%	4.31%	3.33%
Waldencast	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Honest beats Waldencast on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Honest

The Honest Company, Inc. manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Waldencast

Waldencast plc operates in the beauty and wellness industry. It engages in developing, acquiring, accelerating, and scaling various brands. The company provides cosmetic, over-the-counter, and prescription products under the Obagi Medical, Obagi Clinical, and Obagi Professional brands; and a Skintrinsiq device for use in facial treatments that is used by physicians' offices, spas, and aestheticians. It also offers clean makeup products under the Milk Makeup brand. The company sells its products to dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and other physicians who focuses on aesthetic and therapeutic skincare, including physicians on site at medical spas, through its direct sales force, as well as through distribution partners. Waldencast plc was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in White Plains, New York.