Lulu’s Fashion Lounge (NASDAQ:LVLU) vs. Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) Head to Head Comparison

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge (NASDAQ:LVLU) and Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	-15.83%	-251.91%	-15.75%
Xcel Brands	-437.09%	-51.46%	-24.73%

Risk & Volatility

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xcel Brands has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.8% of Lulu’s Fashion Lounge shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.6% of Xcel Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.8% of Lulu’s Fashion Lounge shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.5% of Xcel Brands shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Lulu’s Fashion Lounge and Xcel Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	1	1	0	0	1.50
Xcel Brands	1	1	1	0	2.00

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge currently has a consensus price target of $15.00, indicating a potential downside of 30.39%. Xcel Brands has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 89.87%. Given Xcel Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Xcel Brands is more favorable than Lulu’s Fashion Lounge.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lulu’s Fashion Lounge and Xcel Brands”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	$315.89 million	0.19	-$55.29 million	($16.16)	-1.33
Xcel Brands	$8.26 million	0.91	-$22.40 million	($7.86)	-0.20

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

Summary

Xcel Brands beats Lulu’s Fashion Lounge on 10 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 Xcel Brands

Xcel Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media and consumer products company in the United States. The company designs, produces, markets, wholesales, and sells branded apparel, footwear, accessories, jewelry, home goods, and other consumer products; and acquires consumer lifestyle brands, including the Isaac Mizrahi, the LOGO by Lori Goldstein, the Judith Ripka, the Halston brand, the C Wonder, the TowerHill by Christie Brinkley brand (the CB brand), and other brands, as well as manages the Longaberger brand. It licenses its brands to third parties; and designs, produces, markets, and distributes through an omni-channel retail sales strategy, which include distribution through interactive television, digital live-stream shopping, brick-and-mortar retail, and e-commerce channels. The company also offers live streaming, social media and other marketing, and public relations support for its brands. In addition, it markets its brands through www.isaacmizrahi.com; www.halston.com; www.judithripka.com; www.cwonder.com; www.lorigoldstein.com; and www.longaberger.com. Xcel Brands, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in New York, New York.