Head-To-Head Review: Ermenegildo Zegna (NYSE:ZGN) vs. Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU)

Ermenegildo Zegna (NYSE:ZGN – Get Rating) and Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU – Get Rating) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Ermenegildo Zegna has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lululemon Athletica has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

24.8% of Ermenegildo Zegna shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.5% of Lululemon Athletica shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Ermenegildo Zegna shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Lululemon Athletica shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ermenegildo Zegna and Lululemon Athletica’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ermenegildo Zegna	$1.53 billion	0.32	-$160.90 million	N/A	N/A
Lululemon Athletica	$6.26 billion	6.32	$975.32 million	$7.50	41.24

Lululemon Athletica has higher revenue and earnings than Ermenegildo Zegna.

Profitability

This table compares Ermenegildo Zegna and Lululemon Athletica’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ermenegildo Zegna	N/A	-82.29%	-14.51%
Lululemon Athletica	15.59%	37.92%	22.25%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ermenegildo Zegna and Lululemon Athletica, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ermenegildo Zegna	0	2	1	0	2.33
Lululemon Athletica	1	4	20	0	2.76

Ermenegildo Zegna presently has a consensus target price of $11.87, suggesting a potential upside of 21.34%. Lululemon Athletica has a consensus target price of $444.64, suggesting a potential upside of 43.76%. Given Lululemon Athletica’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lululemon Athletica is more favorable than Ermenegildo Zegna.

Summary

Lululemon Athletica beats Ermenegildo Zegna on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ermenegildo Zegna (Get Rating)

Ermenegildo Zegna N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes luxury menswear, footwear, leather goods, and other accessories under the Zegna and the Thom Browne brands. It provides luxury leisurewear for men; formal suits, tuxedos, shirts, blazers, formal overcoats, and accessories; leather accessories comprising shoes, bags, belts, and small leather accessories; and fragrances. The company also offers luxury womenswear and childrenswear under the Thom Browne brand, as well as provides eyewear, cufflinks and jewelry, watches, underwear, and beachwear manufactured by third parties under licenses. It serves customers through its retail stores and online channels in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company was founded in 1910 and is based in Trivero, Italy. Ermenegildo Zegna N.V. is a subsidiary of Monterubello Societa' Semplice.

About Lululemon Athletica (Get Rating)

lululemon athletica inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, distributes, and retails athletic apparel and accessories for women and men. It operates in two segments, Company-Operated Stores and Direct to Consumer. The company offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle and athletic activities, such as yoga, running, and training, as well as other sweaty pursuits. It also provides fitness-related accessories and footwear. The company sells its products through a chain of company-operated stores; outlets and warehouse sales; interactive workout platform; a network of wholesale accounts, such as yoga studios, health clubs, and fitness centers; temporary locations; and license and supply arrangements, as well as directly to consumer through mobile apps and lululemon.com e-commerce website. As of January 30, 2022, it operated 574 company-operated stores under the lululemon brand in the United States, Canada, the People's Republic of China, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, South Korea, Singapore, France, Malaysia, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland. lululemon athletica inc. was founded in 1998 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.