Financial Contrast: Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) versus Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA)

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) and Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Herbalife and Walgreens Boots Alliance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Herbalife	5.66%	-23.75%	7.86%
Walgreens Boots Alliance	-3.80%	16.39%	2.39%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Herbalife and Walgreens Boots Alliance”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Herbalife	$4.99 billion	0.17	$254.30 million	$2.74	2.98
Walgreens Boots Alliance	$147.66 billion	0.07	-$8.64 billion	($6.69)	-1.70

Herbalife has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Walgreens Boots Alliance. Walgreens Boots Alliance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Herbalife, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

58.6% of Walgreens Boots Alliance shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Herbalife shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.5% of Walgreens Boots Alliance shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Herbalife has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Herbalife and Walgreens Boots Alliance, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Herbalife	0	1	3	0	2.75
Walgreens Boots Alliance	4	6	2	0	1.83

Herbalife currently has a consensus target price of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 40.93%. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus target price of $10.59, indicating a potential downside of 6.69%. Given Herbalife’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Herbalife is more favorable than Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Summary

Herbalife beats Walgreens Boots Alliance on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Herbalife

Herbalife Ltd. provides health and wellness products in North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, and the Asia Pacific. It offers products in the areas of weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports, and fitness; outer nutrition; and literature and promotional items. The company also provides weight management products, including meal replacement products, protein shakes, drink mixes, weight loss supplements, healthy snacks, and metabolism boosting teas; targeted nutrition products, which comprise functional beverages, and dietary and nutritional supplements that contain herbs, vitamins, minerals, and other natural ingredients; outer nutrition products, such as facial skin, body, and hair care products; and energy, sports, and fitness products, including N-R-G tea and energy drink products. In addition, it offers literature, promotional, and other materials that comprise start-up kits, sales tools, and educational materials. The company sells its products through sales representatives, independent service providers, and company-operated retail platforms. Herbalife Ltd. was formerly known as Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. and changed its name to Herbalife Ltd. in April 2023. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. operates as a healthcare, pharmacy, and retail company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Retail Pharmacy, International, and U.S. Healthcare. The U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment engages in operation of the retail drugstores, health and wellness services, specialty, and home delivery pharmacy services, which offers health and wellness, beauty, personal care and consumables, and general merchandise. The International segment offers sale of prescription drugs and health and wellness, beauty, personal care, and other consumer products outside the United States; and operates pharmacy-led health and beauty retail businesses under the Boots brand stores in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Thailand, as well as the Benavides brand in Mexico and the Ahumada brand in Chile. The U.S. Healthcare segment provides VillageMD, a national provider of value-based care with primary, multi-specialty, and urgent care providers serving patients in traditional clinic settings, in patients' homes and online appointments; Shields, a specialty pharmacy integrator and accelerator for hospitals; and CareCentrix, a participant in the post-acute and home care management sectors. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois.