Reviewing Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) and Luvu Brands (OTCMKTS:LUVU)

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) and Luvu Brands (OTCMKTS:LUVU) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Lifetime Brands has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Luvu Brands has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lifetime Brands and Luvu Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lifetime Brands	-5.16%	0.12%	0.04%
Luvu Brands	-1.28%	-11.34%	-3.43%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

40.6% of Lifetime Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 43.6% of Lifetime Brands shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 45.9% of Luvu Brands shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lifetime Brands and Luvu Brands”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lifetime Brands	$682.95 million	0.13	-$15.16 million	($1.59)	-2.51
Luvu Brands	$24.57 million	0.13	-$400,000.00	N/A	N/A

Luvu Brands has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Lifetime Brands.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Lifetime Brands and Luvu Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lifetime Brands	1	1	1	0	2.00
Luvu Brands	0	0	0	0	0.00

Lifetime Brands currently has a consensus target price of $5.50, indicating a potential upside of 37.84%. Given Lifetime Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Lifetime Brands is more favorable than Luvu Brands.

Summary

Lifetime Brands beats Luvu Brands on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lifetime Brands

Lifetime Brands, Inc. designs, sources, and sells branded kitchenware, tableware, and other products for use in the home in the worldwide. The company provides kitchenware products, including kitchen tools and gadgets, cutlery, kitchen scales, thermometers, cutting boards, shears, cookware, pantryware, spice racks, and bakeware; and tableware products comprising dinnerware, stemware, flatware, and giftware. It also provides home solutions, such as thermal beverageware, bath scales, weather and outdoor household, food storage, neoprene travel, and home décor products. The company owns or licenses various brands, including the Farberware, Mikasa, Taylor, KitchenAid, Pfaltzgraff, BUILT NY, Rabbit, Kamenstein, S’well, and Fred & Friends. It serves mass market merchants, specialty stores, department stores, warehouse clubs, grocery stores, off-price retailers, food service distributors, food and beverage outlets, and e-commerce. The company sells its products directly, as well as through its retail websites. Lifetime Brands, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Garden City, New York.

About Luvu Brands

Luvu Brands, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets various consumer lifestyle products worldwide. The company offers sensuality and intimacy products under the Liberator brand; and bed therapy products, which assistive in relieving medical conditions associated with acid reflux, surgery recovery, and chronic pain under the Avana brand. It also provides daybeds, sofas, and beanbags made from virgin and re-purposed polyurethane foam under the Jaxx brand. In addition, the company is involved in the purchase and resale of products to e-merchants, retailers, and e-commerce sites, as well as provision of contract manufacturing and fulfillment services. It markets its products through various websites comprising liberator.com, jaxxliving.com, and avanacomfort.com, as well as through distributors, retailers, and e-tailers across various channels of adult, mass market, drug, and specialty accounts. The company was formerly known as Liberator, Inc. and changed its name to Luvu Brands, Inc. in November 2015. Luvu Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.