Critical Analysis: J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) vs. Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF)

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

40.7% of J.Jill shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of J.Jill shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Abercrombie & Fitch shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for J.Jill and Abercrombie & Fitch, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
J.Jill	2	2	2	0	2.00
Abercrombie & Fitch	1	4	8	0	2.54

J.Jill currently has a consensus target price of $17.25, suggesting a potential upside of 28.39%. Abercrombie & Fitch has a consensus target price of $112.64, suggesting a potential upside of 47.25%. Given Abercrombie & Fitch’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Abercrombie & Fitch is more favorable than J.Jill.

Profitability

This table compares J.Jill and Abercrombie & Fitch’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
J.Jill	4.68%	30.77%	8.38%
Abercrombie & Fitch	9.34%	34.36%	13.50%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares J.Jill and Abercrombie & Fitch”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
J.Jill	$596.55 million	0.34	$27.89 million	$1.82	7.38
Abercrombie & Fitch	$5.27 billion	0.65	$506.92 million	$10.42	7.34

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

Risk & Volatility

J.Jill has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abercrombie & Fitch has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Abercrombie & Fitch beats J.Jill on 10 of the 13 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 Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. engages in the retail of apparel, personal care products, and accessories. The firm operates through following geographical segments: Americas, EMEA and APAC. The Americas segment includes operations in North America and South America. The EMEA segment includes operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The APAC segment includes operations in the Asia-Pacific region, including Asia and Oceania. The company was founded by David Abercrombie in 1892 and is headquartered in New Albany, OH.