Celsius (NASDAQ:CELH) vs. Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Critical Review

Celsius (NASDAQ:CELH) and Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Celsius and Kraft Heinz, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Celsius	2	3	18	0	2.70
Kraft Heinz	5	17	0	1	1.87

Celsius presently has a consensus target price of $65.61, indicating a potential upside of 17.29%. Kraft Heinz has a consensus target price of $26.16, indicating a potential upside of 12.75%. Given Celsius’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Celsius is more favorable than Kraft Heinz.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Celsius and Kraft Heinz”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Celsius	$1.36 billion	10.64	$145.07 million	$0.10	559.40
Kraft Heinz	$25.85 billion	1.06	$2.74 billion	($3.73)	-6.22

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

Profitability

This table compares Celsius and Kraft Heinz’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Celsius	3.03%	41.88%	10.94%
Kraft Heinz	-17.35%	7.26%	3.86%

Risk and Volatility

Celsius has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kraft Heinz has a beta of 0.09, indicating that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.0% of Celsius shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.2% of Kraft Heinz shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Celsius shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Kraft Heinz 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.

Summary

Celsius beats Kraft Heinz on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Celsius

Celsius Holdings, Inc. develops, processes, markets, distributes, and sells functional energy drinks and liquid supplements in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canadian, European, Middle Eastern, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers CELSIUS, a fitness drink or supplement designed to accelerate metabolism and burn body fat; various flavors and carbonated and non-carbonated functional energy drinks under the CELSIUS Originals and Vibe name, as well as functional energy drink under the CELSIUS Essentials and CELSIUS On-the-Go Powder names; and CELSIUS ready-to drink products. It distributes its products through direct-to-store delivery, distributors, supermarkets, convenience stores, drug stores, nutritional stores, and mass merchants, as well as health clubs, gyms, the military, and e-commerce websites. The company was formerly known as Vector Ventures, Inc. and changed its name to Celsius Holdings, Inc. in January 2007. Celsius Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products under the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Heinz, ABC, Master, Quero, Kraft, Golden Circle, Wattie's, Pudliszki, and Plasmon brands. It sells its products through its own sales organizations, as well as through independent brokers, agents, and distributors to chain, wholesale, cooperative, and independent grocery accounts; convenience, value, and club stores; pharmacies and drug stores; mass merchants; foodservice distributors; institutions, including hotels, restaurants, bakeries, hospitals, health care facilities, and government agencies; and online through various e-commerce platforms and retailers. The company was formerly known as H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation and changed its name to The Kraft Heinz Company in July 2015. The Kraft Heinz Company was founded in 1869 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.