Reviewing Lands’ End (NASDAQ:LE) & Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO)

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) and Lands’ End (NASDAQ:LE) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Lands’ End’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Academy Sports and Outdoors	6.39%	18.36%	7.29%
Lands’ End	26.62%	7.96%	3.38%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Lands’ End”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Academy Sports and Outdoors	$6.19 billion	0.55	$376.77 million	$6.00	9.23
Lands’ End	$1.34 billion	0.23	$5.51 million	$11.24	0.92

Academy Sports and Outdoors has higher revenue and earnings than Lands’ End. Lands’ End is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Academy Sports and Outdoors, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Academy Sports and Outdoors and Lands’ End, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Academy Sports and Outdoors	1	8	6	1	2.44
Lands’ End	0	1	1	0	2.50

Academy Sports and Outdoors presently has a consensus target price of $58.29, indicating a potential upside of 5.28%. Lands’ End has a consensus target price of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 92.86%. Given Lands’ End’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lands’ End is more favorable than Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Volatility & Risk

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lands’ End has a beta of 2.32, suggesting that its stock price is 132% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

37.5% of Lands’ End shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Academy Sports and Outdoors shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Lands’ End shares are owned 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.

Summary

Academy Sports and Outdoors beats Lands’ End on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Academy Sports and Outdoors

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a sporting goods and outdoor recreational retailer in the United States. The company outdoor division comprises camping products, such as coolers and drinkware, and camping accessories and equipment,; fishing products, including marine equipment and fishing rods, reels, and baits and equipment; and hunting products, which includes firearms, ammunition, archery and archery equipment, camouflage apparel, waders, shooting accessories, gun safes, optics, airguns, and hunting equipment. Its sports and recreation division offers fitness equipment, fitness accessories, and nutrition supplies; team and specialty sports equipment, including baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, racket sports, volleyball, backpacks, and sports bags; recreation products, which includes patio furniture, outdoor cooking, trampolines, play sets, watersports, and pet equipment, as well as wheeled goods including bicycles, skateboards, and other ride-on toys; and electronics and watches, as well as front-end products, such as consumables, batteries, etc. The company's apparel division provides outdoor and seasonal apparel, denim, work apparel, graphic t-shirts, and accessories; boys and girls outdoor, and athletic apparel; sporting and fitness apparel; and professional and collegiate team licensed apparel and accessories. Its footwear division offers casual shoes, slippers, seasonal footwear, and socks; work and western boots, shoes, and hunting footwear; boys and girls footwear; athletic footwear, such as running shoes, athletic lifestyle, and training shoes; and team and specialty sports footwear, and slides. The company sells its products under the Academy Sports + Outdoors, Magellan Outdoors, BCG, O'rageous, Game Winner, Outdoor Gourmet, and Freely brand names. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Katy, Texas.

About Lands’ End

Lands’ End, Inc. operates as a digital retailer of apparel, swimwear, outerwear, accessories, footwear, home products, and uniform in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through U.S. eCommerce, International, Outfitters, Third Party, and Retail segments. The company also sells uniform and logo apparel. It sells its products through e-commerce and company operated stores, as well as through third party distribution channels under the Lands’ End, Lands’ End Lighthouse, Squall, Tugless Tank, Drifter, Outrigger, and Marinac, Beach Living brands, as well as Supima, No-Gape, Starfish, Little Black Suit, Iron Knees, Hyde Park, Year’ Rounder, ClassMate, Willis & Geiger, and ThermaCheck brands. Lands’ End, Inc. was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.