Comparing Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) and Seven and I (OTCMKTS:SVNDY)

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) and Seven and I (OTCMKTS:SVNDY) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Dividends

Bath & Body Works pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Seven and I pays an annual dividend of $0.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Bath & Body Works pays out 23.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Seven and I pays out 37.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Bath & Body Works is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Bath & Body Works has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Seven and I has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.1% of Bath & Body Works shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Seven and I shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Bath & Body Works shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Bath & Body Works and Seven and I’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bath & Body Works	9.88%	-48.43%	15.18%
Seven and I	1.65%	6.49%	2.33%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Bath & Body Works and Seven and I, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bath & Body Works	0	3	12	0	2.80
Seven and I	0	0	0	0	0.00

Bath & Body Works presently has a consensus target price of $41.62, indicating a potential upside of 40.61%. Given Bath & Body Works’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Bath & Body Works is more favorable than Seven and I.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bath & Body Works and Seven and I”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bath & Body Works	$7.31 billion	0.84	$798.00 million	$3.37	8.78
Seven and I	$78.57 billion	0.43	$1.14 billion	$0.51	25.51

Seven and I has higher revenue and earnings than Bath & Body Works. Bath & Body Works is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seven and I, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Bath & Body Works beats Seven and I on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc. is a specialty retailers and home to America’s Favorite Fragrances, offering a breadth of exclusive fragrances for the body and home, including the selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap. The company was founded by Leslie Herbert Wexner in 1963 and is headquartered in Columbus, OH.

About Seven and I

Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. operates convenience stores, superstores, department stores, supermarkets, and specialty stores. It operates through six segments: Domestic Convenience Store operations, Overseas Convenience Store Operations, Superstore Operations, Department and Specialty Store Operations, Financial Services, and Others. The company engages in the operation of convenience stores comprising directly managed corporate stores and franchised stores; retail business that provides daily life necessities, such as food and other daily necessities and dollar merchandise and services; banking, leasing, and credit card business; and real estate business. Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.