Comparing Boot Barn (NYSE:BOOT) and Li Ning (OTCMKTS:LNNGY)

Li Ning (OTCMKTS:LNNGY) and Boot Barn (NYSE:BOOT) are both mid-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Li Ning and Boot Barn, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Li Ning	1	0	0	0	1.00
Boot Barn	0	4	11	0	2.73

Boot Barn has a consensus price target of $206.08, suggesting a potential upside of 19.24%. Given Boot Barn’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Boot Barn is more favorable than Li Ning.

Profitability

This table compares Li Ning and Boot Barn’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Li Ning	N/A	N/A	N/A
Boot Barn	10.05%	18.11%	9.94%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Li Ning and Boot Barn”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Li Ning	$3.99 billion	1.67	$419.10 million	N/A	N/A
Boot Barn	$1.91 billion	2.76	$180.94 million	$6.76	25.57

Li Ning has higher revenue and earnings than Boot Barn.

Volatility and Risk

Li Ning has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Boot Barn has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Boot Barn beats Li Ning on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Li Ning

Li Ning Company Limited, a sports brand company, engages in the research and development, design, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and retail of sporting goods in the People’s Republic of China. The company offers sporting goods, including professional and leisure footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories under the LI-NING brand. It also develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and/or sells outdoor sports products under the AIGLE brand; table tennis products under the Double Happiness brand name; fashionable fitness products for dance and yoga under the Danskin brand; and badminton products under the Kason brand name. The company also provides brand licensing, administrative, and property management services. It operates conventional stores, flagship stores, China LI-NING stores, LI-NING 1990 stores, factory outlets, and multi-brand stores under the LI-NING brand. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.

About Boot Barn

Boot Barn Holdings, Inc., a lifestyle retail chain, operates specialty retail stores in the United States. The company's specialty retail stores offer western and work-related footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and kids. It offers boots, shirts, jackets, hats, belts and belt buckles, handbags, western-style jewelry, rugged footwear, outerwear, overalls, denim, and flame-resistant and high-visibility clothing. The company also provides gifts and home merchandise. The company also sells its products through e-commerce websites, including bootbarn.com; sheplers.com; and countryoutfitter.com. The company was formerly known as WW Top Investment Corporation and changed its name to Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. in June 2014. Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is based in Irvine, California.