Reviewing Hennes & Mauritz (OTCMKTS:HNNMY) and Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ)

Hennes & Mauritz (OTCMKTS:HNNMY) and Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hennes & Mauritz and Zumiez”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hennes & Mauritz	$23.01 billion	1.14	$1.23 billion	$0.16	23.31
Zumiez	$929.06 million	0.44	$13.38 million	$0.86	28.03

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

Profitability

This table compares Hennes & Mauritz and Zumiez’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hennes & Mauritz	5.48%	31.74%	7.38%
Zumiez	1.44%	3.91%	1.90%

Volatility and Risk

Hennes & Mauritz has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zumiez has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Hennes & Mauritz and Zumiez, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hennes & Mauritz	2	4	0	1	2.00
Zumiez	0	3	0	0	2.00

Zumiez has a consensus price target of $18.00, indicating a potential downside of 25.34%. Given Zumiez’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Zumiez is more favorable than Hennes & Mauritz.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Hennes & Mauritz shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Zumiez shares are held by institutional investors. 21.2% of Zumiez shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Hennes & Mauritz beats Zumiez on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hennes & Mauritz

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) provides clothing, accessories, footwear, cosmetics, home textiles, and homeware for women, men, and children worldwide. It offers sportswear, shoes, bags, beauty products, activewear, jeans, and ready-to-wear; and interior products, including bed linens, dinnerware, textiles, furniture, and lighting. The company provides its products under the H&M, H&M HOME, H&M Move, H&M Beauty, COS, Weekday, Monki, & Other Stories, ARKET, Afound, and Singular Society brand names. In addition, it operates Sellpy, a broad digital platform for second-hand fashion and other products; and Creator Studio, a global platform for merchandise design and production, as well as provides solutions to extend the useful life of unwanted garments through reuse and recycling under Looper Textile name. The company offers its products through online and physical stores. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was incorporated in 1943 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

About Zumiez

Zumiez Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories, and hardgoods for young men and women. The company provides hardgoods, including skateboards, snowboards, bindings, components, and other equipment. It operates stores in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia under the names of Zumiez, Blue Tomato, and Fast Times. It operates zumiez.com, zumiez.ca, blue-tomato.com, and fasttimes.com.au e-commerce websites. Zumiez Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Lynnwood, Washington.