Hennes & Mauritz (OTCMKTS:HNNMY) & Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Critical Comparison

Hennes & Mauritz (OTCMKTS:HNNMY) and Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hennes & Mauritz and Levi Strauss & Co.”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hennes & Mauritz	$23.01 billion	1.08	$1.23 billion	$0.16	22.00
Levi Strauss & Co.	$6.28 billion	1.46	$578.10 million	$1.57	15.18

Hennes & Mauritz has higher revenue and earnings than Levi Strauss & Co.. Levi Strauss & Co. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hennes & Mauritz, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Hennes & Mauritz pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Levi Strauss & Co. pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Hennes & Mauritz pays out 43.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Levi Strauss & Co. pays out 35.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Levi Strauss & Co. has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Levi Strauss & Co. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Hennes & Mauritz shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.1% of Levi Strauss & Co. shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Levi Strauss & Co. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Hennes & Mauritz and Levi Strauss & Co.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hennes & Mauritz	5.48%	30.79%	7.32%
Levi Strauss & Co.	9.52%	25.35%	8.32%

Risk and Volatility

Hennes & Mauritz has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Levi Strauss & Co. has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Hennes & Mauritz and Levi Strauss & Co., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hennes & Mauritz	2	4	0	1	2.00
Levi Strauss & Co.	0	3	13	0	2.81

Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus target price of $26.79, suggesting a potential upside of 12.41%. Given Levi Strauss & Co.’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Levi Strauss & Co. is more favorable than Hennes & Mauritz.

Summary

Levi Strauss & Co. beats Hennes & Mauritz on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hennes & Mauritz

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) provides clothing, accessories, footwear, cosmetics, home textiles, and homeware for women, men, and children worldwide. It offers sportswear, shoes, bags, beauty products, activewear, jeans, and ready-to-wear; and interior products, including bed linens, dinnerware, textiles, furniture, and lighting. The company provides its products under the H&M, H&M HOME, H&M Move, H&M Beauty, COS, Weekday, Monki, & Other Stories, ARKET, Afound, and Singular Society brand names. In addition, it operates Sellpy, a broad digital platform for second-hand fashion and other products; and Creator Studio, a global platform for merchandise design and production, as well as provides solutions to extend the useful life of unwanted garments through reuse and recycling under Looper Textile name. The company offers its products through online and physical stores. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was incorporated in 1943 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co. engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.