Woolworths (OTCMKTS:WLWHY) and Caleres (NYSE:CAL) Critical Survey

Caleres (NYSE:CAL) and Woolworths (OTCMKTS:WLWHY) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Caleres has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Woolworths has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Caleres and Woolworths’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Caleres	0.02%	7.33%	2.21%
Woolworths	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Caleres and Woolworths”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Caleres	$2.76 billion	0.15	-$6.69 million	($0.01)	-1,253.00
Woolworths	$4.42 billion	0.64	$134.61 million	N/A	N/A

Woolworths has higher revenue and earnings than Caleres.

Dividends

Caleres pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Woolworths pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Caleres pays out -2,800.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.4% of Caleres shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Caleres shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Caleres and Woolworths, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Caleres	1	2	0	0	1.67
Woolworths	0	2	0	0	2.00

Summary

Caleres beats Woolworths on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Caleres

Caleres, Inc. engages in the retail and wholesale of footwear business in the United States, Canada, East Asia, and internationally. It operates through Famous Footwear and Brand Portfolio segments. The company offers licensed, branded, and private-label athletic, casual, and dress footwear products. The company provides brand name athletic, casual, and dress shoes, including Nike, Skechers, adidas, Vans, Crocs, Converse, Puma, Birkenstock, New Balance, Under Armour, Dr. Martens, Asics, Timberland, Bearpaw, Skechers, HeyDude, Franco Sarto, Rykä, Vince, Bzees, Veronica Beard, and Zodiac brands, as well as company-owned and licensed brands, such as LifeStride, Dr. Scholl’s Shoes, Blowfish Malibu, and Naturalizer. The company also operates naturalizer.com, naturalizer.ca, vionicshoes.com, samedelman.com, samedelman.co.uk, allenedmonds.com, allenedmonds.ca, drschollsshoes.com, lifestride.com, francosarto.com, ryka.com, bzees.com, and zodiacshoes.com, as well as Vince.com, blowfishshoes.com, and veronicabeard.com websites. In addition, it designs, sources, manufactures, and markets footwear to retail stores, such as online retailers, national chains, department stores, mass merchandisers, and independent retailers. Further, the company wholesales men’s footwear, apparel, leather goods, and accessories under the Allen Edmonds brand; footwear for women under LifeStride brand; Italian footwear Franco Sarto brand; athletic footwear for women under the Rykä brand; women’s shoe collection under the Vince brand; women’s footwear under the Bzees brand; and women’s footwear collection under Veronica Beard brand. The company was formerly known as Brown Shoe Company, Inc. and changed its name to Caleres, Inc. in May 2015. Caleres, Inc. was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

About Woolworths

Woolworths Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates a chain of retail stores in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. It operates through seven segments: Woolworths Fashion, Beauty and Home; Woolworths Food; Woolworths Financial Services; Woolworths Logistics; Country Road Group; and Treasury. The company provides food, clothing, homeware, beauty, and various lifestyle products. It offers financial products and services, such as store cards, credit cards, personal loans, and other financial products. The company is also involved in the cash and debt management activities. Woolworths Holdings Limited was incorporated in 1929 and is based in Cape Town, South Africa.