WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) versus KAO (OTCMKTS:KAOOY) Critical Survey

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) and KAO (OTCMKTS:KAOOY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.5% of WD-40 shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of WD-40 shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for WD-40 and KAO, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WD-40	0	2	2	2	3.00
KAO	0	0	0	0	0.00

WD-40 currently has a consensus price target of $305.00, indicating a potential upside of 40.83%. Given WD-40’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe WD-40 is more favorable than KAO.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares WD-40 and KAO”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WD-40	$619.98 million	4.69	$90.99 million	$6.58	32.91
KAO	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

WD-40 has higher revenue and earnings than KAO.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WD-40	13.23%	33.53%	18.97%
KAO	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

WD-40 beats KAO on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About KAO

Kao Corporation develops and sells hygiene and living care, health and beauty care, life care business, cosmetics, and chemical products. The Hygiene and Living Care Business segment offers fabric, kitchen, home, sanitary, and pet care products. The Health and Beauty Care Business segment provides facial, body, hair, and oral care, hair styling and color, Salon, In-bathroom health care, and warming products. The Life Care Business segments offers health drinks, as well as hygiene products for commercial use. The Cosmetics Business segment provides counseling and self-selection cosmetic products. The Chemical Business segment offers oleo chemicals; fat and oil derivatives; surfactants; fragrances; water-reducing admixtures; casting sand binders; plastics additives; process chemicals; toners and toner binders; inkjet ink colorants and ink; fine polishing agents and cleaners; and materials and process chemicals. The company was formerly known as Kao Soap Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Kao Corporation in 1982. Kao Corporation was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.