Critical Analysis: FitLife Brands (NASDAQ:FTLF) and e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF)

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) and FitLife Brands (NASDAQ:FTLF) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for e.l.f. Beauty and FitLife Brands, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
e.l.f. Beauty	1	6	10	1	2.61
FitLife Brands	0	2	1	0	2.33

e.l.f. Beauty presently has a consensus target price of $95.81, indicating a potential upside of 0.48%. FitLife Brands has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 93.55%. Given FitLife Brands’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe FitLife Brands is more favorable than e.l.f. Beauty.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.4% of e.l.f. Beauty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.3% of FitLife Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of e.l.f. Beauty shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 61.7% of FitLife Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares e.l.f. Beauty and FitLife Brands”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
e.l.f. Beauty	$1.64 billion	3.44	$26.32 million	$1.00	95.35
FitLife Brands	$81.46 million	1.07	$6.33 million	$0.62	15.00

e.l.f. Beauty has higher revenue and earnings than FitLife Brands. FitLife Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than e.l.f. Beauty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares e.l.f. Beauty and FitLife Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
e.l.f. Beauty	3.38%	14.07%	6.81%
FitLife Brands	6.15%	18.10%	7.63%

Summary

e.l.f. Beauty beats FitLife Brands on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of inclusive, accessible, clean, vegan and cruelty free cosmetics and skin care products. The company focuses on the e-commerce, national retailers and international business channels. Its brands include elf, elf skin, WELL People and KEYS soulcare. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.

About FitLife Brands

FitLife Brands, Inc. provides nutritional supplements for health-conscious consumers in the United States and internationally. The company provides weight loss, sports nutrition, and general health products; sports nutrition products; weight loss and sports nutrition products; sports nutrition and general wellness formulations with an emphasis on natural, vegan, and organic ingredients; and male health and weight loss products, as well as other diet, health, and sports nutrition supplements and related products; and value-oriented sports nutrition and weight loss products. It offers MRC products which includes general health supplements; and natural skincare and beauty products. In addition, it markets its products under the brand names of NDS Nutrition, PMD Sports, SirenLabs, CoreActive, Nutrology, Metis Nutrition, iSatori, BioGenetic Laboratories, Energize, Dr. Tobias, All-Natural Advice, and Maritime Naturals through franchised stores, as well as through retail locations, which include specialty, mass, and online. The company was formerly known as Bond Laboratories, Inc. and changed its name to FitLife Brands, Inc. in September 2013. FitLife Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.