CL vs HLF Stock Comparison

Colgate Palmolive and Herbalife Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CL Colgate Palmolive Co
$94.02 +9.4% 1M +19.9% 1Y
Market cap
$74.12B
P/E
36.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$21.05B
Div. yield
0.02%
Personal Care Products Consumer Staples
7 wins
HLF Herbalife Ltd.
$13.40 +11.8% 1M +57.5% 1Y
Market cap
$1.39B
P/E
8.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.20B
Div. yield
–
Personal Care Products Consumer Staples
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Colgate Palmolive leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Colgate Palmolive 7, Herbalife 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLHLFLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $74.12B $1.39B CL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 36.4x 8.4x HLF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.1x 5.4x HLF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.2% +5.5% HLF
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.7% 3.2% CL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 27.2% 24.3% CL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.7x 2.6x CL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.9% +57.5% HLF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.5%/yr -22.3%/yr CL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.2% 58.6% CL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 59/100 CL

Percentile Scorecard

CLHLF

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCLHLF
Valuation 45 #28 of 50 100 #1 of 50
Growth 54 #23 of 49 58 #21 of 49
Profitability 95 #3 of 44 84 #8 of 44
Financial Health 50 #28 of 55 28 #40 of 55
Shareholder Returns 50 #16 of 31 23 #24 of 31
Overall 59 59
  • CL ranked among 59 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • HLF ranked among 59 companies in Household and Personal Products

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCLHLFSPY
1 month +9.4%+11.8% -1.0%
3 months +3.6%+12.6% +2.9%
6 months +11.1%-19.2% +6.4%
Year to date +19.0%+4.0% +11.4%
1 year +19.9%+57.5% +13.1%
3 years +29.1%-4.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +8.9%-1.4% +21.5%
5 years +24.5%-71.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year +4.5%-22.3% +10.9%
10 years +32.6%-57.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +2.9%-8.1% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCLHLFSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.2%58.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.1%52.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.151.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.850.98 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -31.1%-89.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.2%-32.9% -2.5%
52-week high $99.14$19.96 $779.14
52-week low $74.98$7.75 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCLHLF
P/E now vs peer median 36.9xmedian 18.7x 8.5xmedian 18.7x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 1.6x 0.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.6xmedian 13.0x 4.9xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.4xmedian 19.0x 4.4xmedian 19.0x
P/B now vs peer median 132.4xmedian 2.3x -3.0xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 3.04median 0.97 -0.74median 0.97

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCLHLF
Revenue $21.05B $5.20B
Gross profit $12.72B $4.04B
Operating income $3.13B $492.30M
Net income $2.16B $162.90M
Free cash flow $3.86B $322.30M
EPS (diluted) $2.54 $1.57
Cash & equivalents $1.37B $370.50M
Total debt $7.86B $8.02B
Shares (diluted) 801.80M 104.50M
Enterprise value $68.85B -$95.15M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCLHLF
P/E 36.9x 8.5x
P/FCF 19.4x 4.4x
P/Operating cash flow 16.8x 3.7x
P/S 3.6x 0.3x
P/B 132.4x -3.0x
P/Tangible book -80.7x -1.7x
EV/EBITDA 21.6x 4.9x
EV/EBIT 26.0x 6.2x
EV/Revenue 3.9x 0.6x
EV/FCF 21.1x 9.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.3x 7.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.04 -0.74

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLHLF
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.2% 5.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 1.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.0% 5.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 1.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -26.9% 0.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 1.1% 4.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -29.2% -49.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.9% -10.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -29.0% -50.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.2% -11.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.7% 44.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 8.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 14.5% 88.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.9% 27.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLHLF
Gross margin 60.4% 77.7%
EBITDA margin 17.9% 12.1%
Operating margin 14.9% 9.5%
Pretax margin 14.0% 4.1%
Net margin 9.7% 3.2%
FCF margin 18.3% 6.2%
Operating cash flow margin 21.2% 7.4%
Return on equity 410.8% –
Return on assets 12.9% 5.7%
Return on invested capital 27.2% 24.3%
Return on capital employed 29.7% 26.0%
Asset turnover 1.3x 1.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 2.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLHLF
Debt / assets 46.8% 70.5%
Debt / equity 13.9x -4.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.7x 2.6x
Debt / FCF 2.0x 6.3x
Liabilities / assets 96.6% 116.6%
Equity / assets 3.4% -16.6%
Interest coverage 12.3x 2.5x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 6.91 2.46

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLHLF
Dividend yield 2.2% –
Net buyback yield 1.5% 0.8%
Shareholder yield 3.7% 0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 84.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 47.2% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.1% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.9% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCLHLF
Forward P/E 25.1xFY2026 5.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.75FY2026 $2.49FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.6%FY2026 +17.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.7% +29.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.42BFY2026 $5.59BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.0%FY2026 +10.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.1% -9.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLHLF
Held by institutions 83.8% 99.1%
Institutions holding 2,015 235
Change in shares held, QoQ 0.0% -0.4%
Institutions buying 919 129
Institutions selling 720 72
Buyers to sellers 1.28 1.79

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CLHLF
CL 1.00 0.28
HLF 0.28 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CL and HLF?

Colgate Palmolive (CL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Colgate Palmolive (CL) $74.12B, Herbalife (HLF) $1.39B.

Which stock is cheaper, CL and HLF?

Herbalife (HLF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Colgate Palmolive (CL) 36.4x, Herbalife (HLF) 8.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Herbalife (HLF) is cheapest (Colgate Palmolive (CL) 25.1x, Herbalife (HLF) 5.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Herbalife (HLF) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Colgate Palmolive (CL) +5.2%, Herbalife (HLF) +5.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Colgate Palmolive (CL) has the highest net margin (Colgate Palmolive (CL) 9.7%, Herbalife (HLF) 3.2%). On return on invested capital, Colgate Palmolive (CL) leads (Colgate Palmolive (CL) 27.2%, Herbalife (HLF) 24.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Herbalife (HLF) returned the most: Colgate Palmolive (CL) +19.9%, Herbalife (HLF) +57.5%. Over five years, Colgate Palmolive (CL) compounded fastest (Colgate Palmolive (CL) +4.5%/yr, Herbalife (HLF) -22.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Colgate Palmolive (CL) 0.02%, Herbalife (HLF) 0.00%. Herbalife (HLF) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Colgate Palmolive (CL) has been the steadiest (Colgate Palmolive (CL) 23.2%, Herbalife (HLF) 58.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CL and HLF move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.28, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CL and HLF?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Colgate Palmolive (CL) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.