Comparing Koss (NASDAQ:KOSS) and Traeger (NYSE:COOK)

Traeger (NYSE:COOK) and Koss (NASDAQ:KOSS) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Traeger and Koss’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Traeger	-23.23%	-13.76%	-3.59%
Koss	-3.00%	-1.29%	-1.06%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

46.8% of Traeger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.2% of Koss shares are held by institutional investors. 16.2% of Traeger shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 44.1% of Koss shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Traeger	$559.52 million	0.23	-$115.18 million	($42.04)	-1.11
Koss	$13.02 million	2.91	-$390,000.00	($0.04)	-100.00

Koss has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Traeger. Koss is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Traeger, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Traeger has a beta of 1.93, meaning that its share price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Koss has a beta of 1.66, meaning that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Traeger and Koss, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Traeger	1	5	1	0	2.00
Koss	1	0	0	0	1.00

Traeger currently has a consensus target price of $50.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.76%. Given Traeger’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Traeger is more favorable than Koss.

About Traeger

Traeger, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, sells, and supports wood pellet fueled barbecue grills for retailers, distributors, and direct to consumers in the United States. Its wood pellet grills are internet of things devices that allow owners to program, monitor, and control their grill through its Traeger app. The company also produces a library of digital content, including instructional recipes and videos that demonstrate tips, tricks, and cooking techniques that empower Traeger owners to progress their cooking skills; and short- and long-form branded content highlighting stories, community members, and lifestyle content from the Traegerhood. In addition, it provides wood pellets that are used to fire the grills; rubs, spices, and sauces; accessories, such as pop-and-lock accessory rail covers, drip trays, bucket liners, storage bins, and shelves; tools to aid in meal prep, cooking, and cleanup, including pellet storage systems, cleaning solutions, barbecue tools, and MEATER smart thermometer; replacement parts; and apparel and merchandise, including t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, and baseball hats. Traeger, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Koss

Koss Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of stereo headphones and related accessories in the United States, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Canada, Korea, Republic of Belgium, Malaysia, and internationally. It offers high-fidelity headphones, wireless bluetooth headphones, wireless bluetooth speakers, computer headsets, telecommunications headsets, and active noise canceling headphones. The company sells its products through distributors, international distributors, audio specialty stores, the internet, national retailers, grocery stores, electronics retailers, and prisons under the Koss name, as well as private label. It sells its products to distributors for resale to school systems, as well as directly to other manufacturers. The company markets through domestic retail outlets and numerous retailers. It exports its products. Koss Corporation was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.