Contrasting Guess? (NYSE:GES) and Hugo Boss (OTCMKTS:BOSSY)

Guess? (NYSE:GES) and Hugo Boss (OTCMKTS:BOSSY) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Guess? has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hugo Boss has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Guess? and Hugo Boss”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Guess?	$3.00 billion	0.29	$60.42 million	$0.16	104.28
Hugo Boss	$4.66 billion	0.72	$230.99 million	$0.69	14.13

Hugo Boss has higher revenue and earnings than Guess?. Hugo Boss is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Guess?, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

61.7% of Guess? shares are held by institutional investors. 33.7% of Guess? shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Guess? and Hugo Boss, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Guess?	0	3	0	0	2.00
Hugo Boss	0	2	0	0	2.00

Guess? currently has a consensus price target of $16.75, indicating a potential upside of 0.39%. Given Guess?’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Guess? is more favorable than Hugo Boss.

Profitability

This table compares Guess? and Hugo Boss’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Guess?	1.01%	16.44%	3.05%
Hugo Boss	5.15%	15.57%	6.00%

Dividends

Guess? pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Hugo Boss pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Guess? pays out 562.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Hugo Boss pays out 30.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Guess? has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Guess? is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Guess? beats Hugo Boss on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Guess?

Guess?, Inc. designs, markets, distributes, and licenses lifestyle collections of apparel and accessories for men, women, and children. It operates through five segments: Americas Retail, Americas Wholesale, Europe, Asia, and Licensing. The company’s clothing collection includes jeans, pants, skirts, dresses, shorts, blouses, shirts, jackets, activewear, knitwear, and intimate apparel. It also grants licenses to design, manufacture, and distribute various products that complement its apparel lines, such as eyewear, watches, handbags, footwear, kids’ and infants’ apparel, outerwear, fragrance, jewelry, and other fashion accessories, as well as to wholesale partners to operate and sell products through licensed retail stores. The company markets its products under the GUESS, GUESS?, GUESS U.S.A., GUESS Jeans, GUESS? and Triangle Design, MARCIANO, Question Mark and Triangle Design, a stylized G and a stylized M, GUESS Kids, Baby GUESS, YES, G by GUESS, GUESS by MARCIANO, and Gc brand names. It sells its products through direct-to-consumer, wholesale, and licensing distribution channels, as well as through its retail websites. Guess?, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Hugo Boss

Hugo Boss AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides apparels, shoes, and accessories for men and women worldwide. It also offers licensed products comprising of fragrances, eyewear, watches, children’s fashion, equestrian, and cycling. The company markets and sells its products under the BOSS and HUGO brand names through freestanding stores, shop-in-shops, factory outlets, multi-brand stores, and franchise business, as well as online retailers, distribution, and stores. Hugo Boss AG was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Metzingen, Germany.