Analyzing Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) and Talon International (OTCMKTS:TALN)

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) and Talon International (OTCMKTS:TALN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Ralph Lauren and Talon International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ralph Lauren	1	2	13	1	2.82
Talon International	0	0	0	0	0.00

Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus target price of $292.88, suggesting a potential upside of 2.32%. Given Ralph Lauren’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Ralph Lauren is more favorable than Talon International.

Profitability

This table compares Ralph Lauren and Talon International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ralph Lauren	10.49%	31.76%	11.45%
Talon International	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

67.9% of Ralph Lauren shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.3% of Ralph Lauren shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.3% of Talon International 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ralph Lauren and Talon International”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ralph Lauren	$7.08 billion	2.44	$742.90 million	$11.61	24.65
Talon International	$32.11 million	0.12	$220,000.00	N/A	N/A

Ralph Lauren has higher revenue and earnings than Talon International.

Volatility & Risk

Ralph Lauren has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Talon International has a beta of -0.3, indicating that its share price is 130% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ralph Lauren beats Talon International on 13 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers apparel, including a range of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing; footwear and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas, as well as leather goods, such as handbags, luggage, small leather goods, and belts; home products consisting of bed and bath lines, furniture, fabric and wallcoverings, floor coverings, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, dining, decorative accessories, and giftware; and fragrances. It sells apparel and accessories under the Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Golf Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Golf, RLX Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, and Chaps brands; women’s fragrances under the Ralph Lauren Collection, Woman by Ralph Lauren, Romance Collection, and Ralph Collection brand names; and men’s fragrances under the Ralph’s Club, Purple Label, Polo Blue, Polo Red, Polo Green, Polo Black, Polo 67, Safari, Polo Sport, and Big Pony Men’s brand names. The company’s restaurant collection includes The Polo Bar in New York City; RL Restaurant in Chicago; Ralph’s in Paris; The Bar at Ralph Lauren located in Milan; Ralph’s Bar located in Chengdu, China; and Ralph’s Coffee concept. It sells its products to department stores, specialty stores, and golf and pro shops, as well as directly to consumers through its retail stores, concession-based shop-within-shops, and its digital commerce sites. The company directly operates retail stores and concession-based shop-within-shops; and operates Ralph Lauren stores and stores and shops through licensing partners. Ralph Lauren Corporation was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Talon International

Talon International, Inc. manufactures and distributes apparel components and accessories to manufacturers of fashion apparel, specialty retailers, and mass merchandisers. The company offers a line of metal, coil, and plastic zippers under the Talon brand name; apparel trim components, including tags, labels, buttons, rivets, leather patches, woven labels, heat transfer seals, tapes, ribbons, printed marketing material, polybasic, packing cartons, and hangers; Flex-It films, adhesive films, overlay films, seam sealing tapes; metal fasteners; stretch waistbands, shirt collars, and inner pocketing panels under the Tekfit brand, as well as packaging and other items; and specialty stretch technology for interlinings. It also provides outsourced trim design, sourcing, and management services, as well as supplies custom branded trim components. The company sells its products through its own sales force in the United States, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh, as well as through sales representatives in Europe. The company was formerly known as Tag-It Pacific, Inc. and changed its name to Talon International, Inc. in July 2007. Talon International, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Woodland Hills, California.