Head-To-Head Contrast: J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) versus Fossil Group (NASDAQ:FOSL)

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) and Fossil Group (NASDAQ:FOSL) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for J.Jill and Fossil Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
J.Jill	1	4	2	0	2.14
Fossil Group	1	0	1	0	2.00

J.Jill currently has a consensus target price of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.70%. Fossil Group has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 150.00%. Given Fossil Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Fossil Group is more favorable than J.Jill.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares J.Jill and Fossil Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
J.Jill	$610.86 million	0.38	$39.48 million	$2.39	6.45
Fossil Group	$1.08 billion	0.10	-$102.67 million	($1.11)	-1.80

J.Jill has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fossil Group. Fossil Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than J.Jill, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

40.7% of J.Jill shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.1% of Fossil Group shares are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of J.Jill shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of Fossil Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares J.Jill and Fossil Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
J.Jill	6.12%	40.48%	10.50%
Fossil Group	-5.49%	-12.07%	-2.27%

Volatility and Risk

J.Jill has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fossil Group has a beta of 2.17, indicating that its stock price is 117% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

J.Jill beats Fossil Group on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc. operates as an omnichannel retailer for women's apparel under the J.Jill brand in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, and accessories, including scarves and jewelry. The company markets its products through retail stores, website, and catalogs. J.Jill, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.

About Fossil Group

Fossil Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and distributes consumer fashion accessories in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company’s products include traditional watches, smartwatches, jewelry, handbags, small leather goods, belts, and sunglasses. It also manufactures and distributes private label brands, as well as branded products purchased for resell in other branded retail stores. The company offers its products under its proprietary brands, such as FOSSIL, SKAGEN, MICHELE, RELIC, and ZODIAC; and under the licensed brands, including ARMANI EXCHANGE, DIESEL, DKNY, EMPORIO ARMANI, KATE SPADE NEW YORK, MICHAEL KORS, TORY BURCH, and Skechers. The company sells its products through company-owned retail and outlet stores, department and specialty retail stores, mass market stores, e-commerce sites, licensed and franchised FOSSIL retail stores, and retail concessions, as well as sells its products on airlines. The company was formerly known as Fossil, Inc. and changed its name to Fossil Group, Inc. in May 2013. Fossil Group, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Richardson, Texas.