Contrasting Celsius (NASDAQ:CELH) & Post (NYSE:POST)

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

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Post	0	3	5	0	2.63
Celsius	0	4	19	0	2.83

Post currently has a consensus price target of $129.67, indicating a potential upside of 32.41%. Celsius has a consensus price target of $67.72, indicating a potential upside of 50.78%. Given Celsius’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Celsius is more favorable than Post.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.9% of Post shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.0% of Celsius shares are held by institutional investors. 14.1% of Post shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Celsius shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Post and Celsius’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Post	3.82%	12.37%	3.54%
Celsius	4.29%	37.68%	9.62%

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Post	$8.16 billion	0.57	$335.70 million	$5.41	18.10
Celsius	$2.52 billion	4.59	$108.00 million	$0.25	179.66

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

Volatility and Risk

Post has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Celsius has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Celsius beats Post on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Post

Post Holdings, Inc. operates as a consumer packaged goods holding company in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Post Consumer Brands, Weetabix, Foodservice, and Refrigerated Retail. The Post Consumer Brands segment manufactures, markets, and sells branded and private label ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals under Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, and Malt-O-Meal brand names; hot cereal; peanut butter under the Peter Pan brand; and branded and private label dog and cat food products under Rachael Ray Nutrish, Nature's Recipe, 9Lives, Kibbles 'n Bits and Gravy Train brand names. The Weetabix segment primarily manufactures, markets, and distributes branded and private label RTE cereal under Weetabix and Alpen brands; hot cereals and other cereal-based food products; breakfast drinks; protein-based shakes under the UFIT brand, and nutritional snacks, such as muesli. The Foodservice segment produces and distributes egg products primarily under Papetti's and Abbotsford Farms brands, as well as potato products in the foodservice and food ingredient channels. The segment also manufactures certain meat products. The Refrigerated Retail segment produces and distributes side dish, potato, sausage products under Bob Evans, Bob Evans Farms, and Simply Potatoes brands; eggs and egg products under Bob Evans Egg Whites and Egg Beaters brands; and cheese, and other dairy and refrigerated products under Crystal Farms brand. It serves grocery stores, mass merchandise customers, supercenters, club stores, natural/specialty stores, dollar stores, discounters, wholesalers, convenience stores, pet supply retailers, drug store customers, foodservice distributors, and national restaurant chains, as well as sells its products in the military, ecommerce, and foodservice channels. The company was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

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.