Medifast (NYSE:MED – Get Free Report) and Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE – Get Free Report) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
95.5% of Medifast shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of Kenvue shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Medifast shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Kenvue shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Medifast and Kenvue, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Medifast | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.33 |
| Kenvue | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Medifast currently has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.32%. Kenvue has a consensus target price of $19.33, suggesting a potential upside of 0.11%. Given Kenvue’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kenvue is more favorable than Medifast.
Dividends
Medifast pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 53.7%. Kenvue pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Medifast pays out -178.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kenvue pays out 96.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Kenvue has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Medifast is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Volatility and Risk
Medifast has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kenvue has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Medifast and Kenvue”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Medifast | $316.93 million | 0.43 | -$18.67 million | ($3.69) | -3.33 |
| Kenvue | $15.12 billion | 2.45 | $1.47 billion | $0.87 | 22.20 |
Kenvue has higher revenue and earnings than Medifast. Medifast is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kenvue, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Medifast and Kenvue’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Medifast | -8.08% | -6.69% | -5.25% |
| Kenvue | 10.76% | 21.22% | 8.37% |
Summary
Kenvue beats Medifast on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Medifast
Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of weight loss, weight management, and healthy living products in the United States and the Asia-Pacific. It offers bars, puffs, cereal, crunchers, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serve, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes, and soups under the OPTAVIA, OPTAVIA ACTIVE, and Optimal Health brand names. The company markets its products through point-of-sale transactions, as well as through ecommerce platform. Medifast, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
About Kenvue
Kenvue Inc. operates as a consumer health company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health. The Self Care segment offers cough, cold and allergy, pain care, digestive health, smoking cessation, eye care, and other products under the Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Nicorette, Zarbee's, ORSLTM, Rhinocort, Calpol, and Zyrtec brands. The Skin Health and Beauty segment provides face and body care, hair, sun, and other care products under the Neutrogena, Aveeno, Dr.Ci:Labo, Le Petit Marseillais, Lubriderm, Rogaine, and OGX brand names. The Essential Health segment offers oral and baby, women's health, wound, and other care products under the Listerine, Johnson's, Band-Aid, and Stayfree, o.b., tampons, Carefree, and Desitin Diaper Rash brands. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is headquartered in Skillman, New Jersey.
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