Reviewing Lulu’s Fashion Lounge (NASDAQ:LVLU) and Buckle (NYSE:BKE)

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge (NASDAQ:LVLU) and Buckle (NYSE:BKE) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lulu’s Fashion Lounge and Buckle”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	$282.28 million	0.11	-$13.71 million	($4.91)	-2.17
Buckle	$1.30 billion	2.22	$209.74 million	$4.14	13.50

Buckle has higher revenue and earnings than Lulu’s Fashion Lounge. Lulu’s Fashion Lounge is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Buckle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

73.8% of Lulu’s Fashion Lounge shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.9% of Buckle shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.8% of Lulu’s Fashion Lounge shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 39.0% of Buckle shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lulu’s Fashion Lounge and Buckle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	-4.86%	-335.73%	-13.44%
Buckle	16.16%	45.18%	20.58%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Lulu’s Fashion Lounge and Buckle, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	1	0	0	0	1.00
Buckle	0	1	1	0	2.50

Buckle has a consensus target price of $53.00, indicating a potential downside of 5.15%. Given Buckle’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Buckle is more favorable than Lulu’s Fashion Lounge.

Risk and Volatility

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Buckle has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Buckle beats Lulu’s Fashion Lounge on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lulu’s Fashion Lounge

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge Holdings, Inc. engages in providing an online website for clothing. It offers retailing of women’s clothing, shoes, and accessories. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Chico, CA.

About Buckle

The Buckle, Inc. operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the United States. It markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear, as well as private label merchandise primarily comprising BKE, Buckle Black, Salvage, Red by BKE, Daytrip, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, FITZ + EDDI, Willow & Root, Outpost Makers, Departwest, Sterling & Stitch, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B. Holt, Modish Rebel, Maven Co-op, and Veece. The company provides services, such as hemming, gift-packaging, layaways, guest loyalty program, the Buckle private label credit card, and personalized stylist services, as well as special order system that allows stores to obtain requested merchandise from other company stores or its online order fulfillment center. The Buckle, Inc. also sells its products through its website, buckle.com. The company was formerly known as Mills Clothing, Inc. and changed its name to The Buckle, Inc. in April 1991.The Buckle, Inc. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska.