Contrasting Spectrum Brands (NYSE:SPB) and Energy Vault (NYSE:NRGV)

Spectrum Brands (NYSE:SPB) and Energy Vault (NYSE:NRGV) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Spectrum Brands has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energy Vault has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

40.0% of Energy Vault shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of Spectrum Brands shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of Energy Vault shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Spectrum Brands and Energy Vault, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spectrum Brands	0	4	4	0	2.50
Energy Vault	2	0	3	0	2.20

Spectrum Brands currently has a consensus price target of $100.75, suggesting a potential upside of 17.72%. Energy Vault has a consensus price target of $1.95, suggesting a potential downside of 3.70%. Given Spectrum Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Spectrum Brands is more favorable than Energy Vault.

Profitability

This table compares Spectrum Brands and Energy Vault’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spectrum Brands	4.21%	6.16%	3.14%
Energy Vault	-73.37%	-47.41%	-33.86%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Spectrum Brands and Energy Vault”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spectrum Brands	$2.96 billion	0.81	$124.80 million	$4.08	20.98
Energy Vault	$341.54 million	0.90	-$98.44 million	($0.65)	-3.12

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

Summary

Spectrum Brands beats Energy Vault on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spectrum Brands

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. operates as a branded consumer products and home essentials company in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific regions. It operates through three segments: Home and Personal Care; Global Pet Care; and Home and Garden. The Home and Personal Care segment provides home appliances under the Black & Decker, Russell Hobbs, George Foreman, PowerXL, Emeril Legasse, Copper Chef, Toastmaster, Juiceman, Farberware, and Breadman brands; and personal care products under the Remington brand. The Global Pet Care segment provides dog and cat chews, treats, wet and dry foods, dog and cat clean-up and food, training, health and grooming, indoor birds, and small animal food and care products under the Good'n'Fun, DreamBone, GOOD BOY, SmartBones, IAMS, EUKANUBA, Nature's Miracle, FURminator, Dingo, 8IN1, Meowee!, and Wild Harvest brands. This segment also offers aquarium kits, stand-alone tanks, and aquatics equipment and consumables under the Tetra, Marineland, Instant Ocean, GloFish, and OmegaSea brands. The Home and Garden segment provides outdoor insect and weed control solutions, and animal repellents under the Spectracide, Garden Safe, Liquid Fence, and EcoLogic brands; household pest control solutions under the Hot Shot, Black Flag, Real-Kill, Ultra Kill, The Ant Trap, and Rid-A-Bug brand names; household surface cleaning, maintenance, and restoration products, including bottled liquids, mops, wipes, and markers under the Rejuvenate brand name; and personal-use pesticides and insect repellent products under the Cutter and Repel brands. The company sells its products through retailers, e-commerce and online retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin.

About Energy Vault

Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. develops and sells energy storage solutions. The company offers B-Vault, an electrochemical battery energy storage systems for shorter-duration energy storage needs; G-Vault, a proprietary gravity energy storage solution, including EVx solution; and H-Vault, a hybrid energy storage systems including systems that integrate green hydrogen. Its software solutions includes Vault-OS, an energy management system the management of one or more diverse storage mediums; Vault-Bidder that utilizes machine learning algorithms to match node-specific data with real-time weather and asset performance information; and Vault-Manager which designs to safeguard asset management and to help blend developing technologies seamlessly into existing solutions. Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. is based in Westlake Village, California.