Head to Head Contrast: Vera Bradley (VRA) versus Its Peers

Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) is one of 60 publicly-traded companies in the “RETAIL – APP/SHOE” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Vera Bradley to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Vera Bradley and its peers’ 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%
Vera Bradley Competitors	-10.59%	-10.27%	1.33%

Risk & Volatility

Vera Bradley has a beta of 1.76, meaning that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vera Bradley’s peers have a beta of 1.26, meaning that their average stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Vera Bradley and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vera Bradley	1	2	0	0	1.67
Vera Bradley Competitors	1139	5327	5677	173	2.40

As a group, “RETAIL – APP/SHOE” companies have a potential upside of 29.32%. Given Vera Bradley’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vera Bradley has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

59.9% of Vera Bradley shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.4% of shares of all “RETAIL – APP/SHOE” companies are owned by institutional investors. 12.1% of Vera Bradley shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.0% of shares of all “RETAIL – APP/SHOE” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Vera Bradley and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vera Bradley	$269.65 million	-$47.84 million	-1.94
Vera Bradley Competitors	$5.98 billion	$339.32 million	9.94

Vera Bradley’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Vera Bradley. Vera Bradley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Vera Bradley peers beat Vera Bradley on 12 of the 13 factors compared.

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.