Critical Comparison: Clover Leaf Capital (NASDAQ:CLOE) vs. Xponential Fitness (NYSE:XPOF)

Xponential Fitness (NYSE:XPOF) and Clover Leaf Capital (NASDAQ:CLOE) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

58.6% of Xponential Fitness shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of Clover Leaf Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 47.8% of Xponential Fitness shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 81.2% of Clover Leaf Capital shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Xponential Fitness and Clover Leaf Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xponential Fitness	-6.51%	-9.35%	3.84%
Clover Leaf Capital	N/A	N/A	-9.57%

Risk and Volatility

Xponential Fitness has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clover Leaf Capital has a beta of 0.08, meaning that its stock price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Xponential Fitness and Clover Leaf Capital”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xponential Fitness	$318.66 million	1.88	-$17.48 million	($0.95)	-13.06
Clover Leaf Capital	N/A	N/A	-$1.05 million	($0.23)	-54.35

Clover Leaf Capital has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Xponential Fitness. Clover Leaf Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Xponential Fitness, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Xponential Fitness and Clover Leaf Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xponential Fitness	0	4	4	2	2.80
Clover Leaf Capital	0	0	0	0	N/A

Xponential Fitness presently has a consensus price target of $17.28, indicating a potential upside of 39.22%. Given Xponential Fitness’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Xponential Fitness is more favorable than Clover Leaf Capital.

Summary

Xponential Fitness beats Clover Leaf Capital on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Xponential Fitness

Xponential Fitness, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a boutique fitness franchisor in North America. It offers pilates, indoor cycling, barre, stretching, rowing, dancing, boxing, running, functional training, and yoga services under the Club Pilates, Pure Barre, CycleBar, StretchLab, Row House, YogaSix, Rumble, AKT, Stride, and BFT brands. Xponential Fitness, Inc. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

About Clover Leaf Capital

Clover Leaf Capital Corp. does not have significant operations. The company focuses on effecting a merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, and other business combination with one or more businesses. It intends to acquire companies operating in the cannabis industry. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Miami, Florida.