Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX) vs. Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Head to Head Comparison

Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX) and Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Crocs and Ralph Lauren, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crocs	2	6	7	0	2.33
Ralph Lauren	1	3	15	2	2.86

Crocs currently has a consensus target price of $102.00, indicating a potential upside of 32.99%. Ralph Lauren has a consensus target price of $320.53, indicating a potential upside of 3.49%. Given Crocs’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Crocs is more favorable than Ralph Lauren.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.4% of Crocs shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.9% of Ralph Lauren shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Crocs shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 38.3% of Ralph Lauren shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crocs	5.72%	44.15%	16.12%
Ralph Lauren	10.91%	33.72%	11.86%

Risk & Volatility

Crocs has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ralph Lauren has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crocs	$4.10 billion	1.02	$950.07 million	$3.73	20.56
Ralph Lauren	$7.08 billion	2.65	$742.90 million	$12.52	24.74

Crocs has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ralph Lauren. Crocs is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ralph Lauren, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Ralph Lauren beats Crocs on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Crocs

Crocs, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells casual lifestyle footwear and accessories for men, women, and children under Crocs and HEYDUDE Brand in the United States and internationally. The company offers various footwear products, including clogs, sandals, slides, flips, wedges, platforms, socks, boots, charms, flip flops, sneakers, and slippers. It sells its products through wholesalers, retail stores, e-commerce sites, third-party marketplaces, and kiosks/store-in-store locations. Crocs, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.

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.