Critical Comparison: ON (NYSE:ONON) & Buckle (NYSE:BKE)

ON (NYSE:ONON) and Buckle (NYSE:BKE) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

36.4% of ON shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.9% of Buckle shares are owned by institutional investors. 68.6% of ON shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 39.0% of Buckle shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ON and Buckle”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ON	$2.63 billion	11.11	$275.23 million	$0.77	60.51
Buckle	$1.22 billion	2.22	$195.47 million	$4.08	12.92

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for ON and Buckle, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ON	2	3	17	3	2.84
Buckle	0	2	0	0	2.00

ON presently has a consensus price target of $60.14, suggesting a potential upside of 29.08%. Buckle has a consensus price target of $55.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.31%. Given ON’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe ON is more favorable than Buckle.

Risk and Volatility

ON has a beta of 2.15, meaning that its stock price is 115% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Buckle has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ON and Buckle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ON	7.45%	14.81%	8.48%
Buckle	16.13%	44.42%	20.62%

Summary

ON beats Buckle on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ON

On Holding AG engages in the development and distribution of sports products such as footwear, apparel, and accessories for high-performance running, outdoor, all-day activities, and tennis. It sells its products worldwide through independent retailers and global distributors, its own online presence, and its own stores. The company was founded by David Allemann, Olivier Bernhard, and Caspar Coppetti in January 2010 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

About Buckle

The Buckle, Inc. operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the United States. It markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear, as well as private label merchandise primarily comprising BKE, Buckle Black, Salvage, Red by BKE, Daytrip, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, FITZ + EDDI, Willow & Root, Outpost Makers, Departwest, Sterling & Stitch, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B. Holt, Modish Rebel, Maven Co-op, and Veece. The company provides services, such as hemming, gift-packaging, layaways, guest loyalty program, the Buckle private label credit card, and personalized stylist services, as well as special order system that allows stores to obtain requested merchandise from other company stores or its online order fulfillment center. The Buckle, Inc. also sells its products through its website, buckle.com. The company was formerly known as Mills Clothing, Inc. and changed its name to The Buckle, Inc. in April 1991.The Buckle, Inc. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska.