Brown-Forman (BF.A) Competitors

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) and Brown-Forman (NYSE:BF.A) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, community ranking, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in CL or BF.A?

80.4% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.8% of Brown-Forman shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Colgate-Palmolive shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Brown-Forman shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to CL or BF.A?

In the previous week, Colgate-Palmolive had 31 more articles in the media than Brown-Forman. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Colgate-Palmolive and 0 mentions for Brown-Forman. Colgate-Palmolive's average media sentiment score of 0.52 beat Brown-Forman's score of 0.00 indicating that Colgate-Palmolive is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Colgate-Palmolive	Positive
Brown-Forman	Neutral

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, CL or BF.A?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colgate-Palmolive	$19.46B	3.92	$2.30B	$3.49	26.73
Brown-Forman	$4.18B	4.85	$1.02B	$2.07	20.72

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in CL or BF.A?

Colgate-Palmolive received 402 more outperform votes than Brown-Forman when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 55.69% of users gave Brown-Forman an outperform vote while only 50.37% of users gave Colgate-Palmolive an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Colgate-Palmolive	Outperform Votes 544 50.37%	Underperform Votes 536 49.63%
Brown-Forman	Outperform Votes 142 55.69%	Underperform Votes 113 44.31%

Is CL or BF.A more profitable?

Brown-Forman has a net margin of 24.15% compared to Colgate-Palmolive's net margin of 14.27%. Colgate-Palmolive's return on equity of 405.81% beat Brown-Forman's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colgate-Palmolive	14.27%	405.81%	17.72%
Brown-Forman	24.15%	28.89%	12.08%

Is CL or BF.A a better dividend stock?

Colgate-Palmolive pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Brown-Forman pays an annual dividend of $0.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Colgate-Palmolive pays out 57.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brown-Forman pays out 42.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Colgate-Palmolive has increased its dividend for 62 consecutive years. Colgate-Palmolive is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, CL or BF.A?

Colgate-Palmolive has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brown-Forman has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer CL or BF.A?

Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus price target of $105.11, suggesting a potential upside of 12.65%. Given Colgate-Palmolive's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Colgate-Palmolive is more favorable than Brown-Forman.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colgate-Palmolive	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Brown-Forman	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Summary

Colgate-Palmolive beats Brown-Forman on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.