Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) vs. Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) Head to Head Analysis

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) and Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.9% of Vera Bradley shares are held by institutional investors. 12.1% of Vera Bradley shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Children’s Place shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vera Bradley and Children’s Place”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vera Bradley	$269.65 million	0.41	-$47.84 million	($1.72)	-2.29
Children’s Place	$1.21 billion	0.06	-$88.26 million	($4.01)	-0.84

Vera Bradley has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Children’s Place. Vera Bradley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Children’s Place, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Vera Bradley has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Children’s Place has a beta of 2.01, indicating that its share price is 101% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vera Bradley and Children’s Place’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vera Bradley	-17.74%	-12.00%	-6.48%
Children’s Place	-7.30%	N/A	-10.79%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Vera Bradley and Children’s Place, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vera Bradley	1	2	0	0	1.67
Children’s Place	1	1	0	0	1.50

Children’s Place has a consensus target price of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 3.86%. Given Children’s Place’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Children’s Place is more favorable than Vera Bradley.

Summary

Vera Bradley beats Children’s Place on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vera Bradley

Vera Bradley, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells women’s handbags, luggage and travel items, fashion and home accessories, and gifts. It operates through three segments: Vera Bradley Direct, Vera Bradley Indirect, and Pura Vida. The company offers bag products, such as totes, crossbodies, satchels, clutches, backpacks, baby bags, and lunch bags; accessories, including ID holders, lanyards, wallets, wristlets, eyewear, scarves, hair accessories, and various technology accessories; bracelets, rings, and necklaces under Pura Vida brand name; and travel products consist of rolling luggage, cosmetics, and travel and packing accessories, as well as travel bags comprising duffel and weekend bags. It also provides home products that include throw blankets, beach towels, and comforters, as well as items, such as mugs and tumblers; apparel/footwear comprising sleepwear, footwear, outerwear, tees and hoodies, and socks; and stationery and merchandising products, as well as freight, licensing, and gift card breakage services. The company sells its Vera Bradley branded products through its full-line and outlet stores in the United States; verabradley.com, an online outlet site; its annual outlet sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It sells its Pura Vida branded products through wholesale retailers and Pura Vida websites, including www.puravidabracelets.com, www.puravidabracelets.eu, and www.puravidabracelets.ca; and Vera Bradley Indirect branded products to specialty retail locations, department stores, national accounts, third party e-commerce sites, third-party inventory liquidators, and through licensing agreements. Vera Bradley, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Roanoke, Indiana.

About Children’s Place

The Children’s Place, Inc. engages in the provision of apparel, footwear, accessories, and other items for children. The firm also designs contracts to manufacture and sell fashionable and value-priced merchandise under the brand names of The Children’s Place, Baby Place, and Gymboree. It operates through The Children’s Place U.S. and The Children’s Place International segments. The Children’s Place U.S. segment refers to the company’s U.S. and Puerto Rico-based stores and revenue from its U.S. based wholesale business. The Children’s Place International segment is involved in the Canadian-based stores, revenue from the company’s Canadian-based wholesale business, as well as revenue from international franchisees. The company was founded by David Pulver and Clinton A. Clark in 1969 and is headquartered in Secaucus, NJ.