Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED – Get Free Report) and a.k.a. Brands (NYSE:AKA – Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Barnes & Noble Education and a.k.a. Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Barnes & Noble Education | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.25 |
| a.k.a. Brands | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Barnes & Noble Education presently has a consensus price target of $17.25, suggesting a potential upside of 31.39%. a.k.a. Brands has a consensus price target of $19.00, suggesting a potential upside of 84.47%. Given a.k.a. Brands’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe a.k.a. Brands is more favorable than Barnes & Noble Education.
Profitability
This table compares Barnes & Noble Education and a.k.a. Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Barnes & Noble Education | 1.29% | 8.77% | 2.66% |
| a.k.a. Brands | -4.43% | -20.93% | -5.17% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
38.5% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.3% of a.k.a. Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.2% of a.k.a. Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Barnes & Noble Education and a.k.a. Brands”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Barnes & Noble Education | $1.71 billion | 0.27 | $16.87 million | $0.64 | 20.51 |
| a.k.a. Brands | $600.21 million | 0.19 | -$31.43 million | ($2.48) | -4.15 |
Barnes & Noble Education has higher revenue and earnings than a.k.a. Brands. a.k.a. Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Barnes & Noble Education, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Barnes & Noble Education has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, a.k.a. Brands has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Barnes & Noble Education beats a.k.a. Brands on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Barnes & Noble Education
Barnes and Noble Education, Inc. engages in the management and operation of bookstore chains in universities. It operates through the Retail and Wholesale segments. The Retail segment operates college, university, and K-12 school bookstores, physical bookstores, and virtual bookstores. The Wholesale segment sells and distributes new and used textbooks to physical bookstores. The company was founded by Leonard S, Riggio in 1965 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ.
About a.k.a. Brands
a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp. operates a portfolio of online fashion brands in the United States, Australia, and internationally. The company offers streetwear apparel, dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes, headwear, and accessories through its online stores under the Princess Polly, Petal & Pup, Culture Kings, and mnml brands. It also operates physical stores under the Culture Kings brand. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Receive News & Ratings for Barnes & Noble Education Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Barnes & Noble Education and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
