Genesco (NYSE:GCO) versus Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) Head-To-Head Contrast

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) and Genesco (NYSE:GCO) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

38.5% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.5% of Genesco shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.1% of Genesco shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Barnes & Noble Education has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Genesco has a beta of 1.83, indicating that its stock price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Barnes & Noble Education and Genesco, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barnes & Noble Education	1	1	2	0	2.25
Genesco	1	3	0	1	2.20

Barnes & Noble Education presently has a consensus target price of $17.25, suggesting a potential upside of 43.27%. Genesco has a consensus target price of $36.67, suggesting a potential upside of 3.87%. Given Barnes & Noble Education’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Barnes & Noble Education is more favorable than Genesco.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Barnes & Noble Education and Genesco”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barnes & Noble Education	$1.71 billion	0.24	$16.87 million	$0.47	25.62
Genesco	$2.44 billion	0.16	$13.27 million	$1.73	20.40

Barnes & Noble Education has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Genesco. Genesco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Barnes & Noble Education, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Barnes & Noble Education and Genesco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barnes & Noble Education	0.98%	7.92%	2.29%
Genesco	0.80%	2.66%	1.00%

Summary

Barnes & Noble Education beats Genesco on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barnes & Noble Education

Barnes and Noble Education, Inc. engages in the management and operation of bookstore chains in universities. It operates through the Retail and Wholesale segments. The Retail segment operates college, university, and K-12 school bookstores, physical bookstores, and virtual bookstores. The Wholesale segment sells and distributes new and used textbooks to physical bookstores. The company was founded by Leonard S, Riggio in 1965 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ.

About Genesco

Genesco Inc. operates as a retailer and wholesaler of footwear, apparel, and accessories in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. The company operates through four segments: Journeys Group, Schuh Group, Johnston & Murphy Group, and Genesco Brands. The Journeys Group segment offers footwear and accessories through the Journeys, Journeys Kidz, and Little Burgundy retail chains, as well as through e-commerce and catalogs for young men, women, and children. Its Schuh Group segment operates Schuh retail footwear stores that offer casual and athletic footwear, as well as sells footwear through e-commerce. The Johnston & Murphy Group segment involved in the retail and e-commerce operations; and wholesale distribution of men’s dress and casual footwear, apparel, and accessories, as well as women’s footwear and accessories. Its Genesco Brands Group segment markets footwear under the Levi’s, Dockers, and G.H. Bass brands for men, women, and children, as well as designs and manufactures the STARTER brands footwear. The company operates through Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Schuh, Little Burgundy, and Johnston & Murphy brand names; and e-commerce websites, including journeys.com, journeyskidz.com, journeys.ca, schuh.co.uk, schuh.ie, schuh.eu, johnstonmurphy.com, littleburgundyshoes.com, johnstonmurphy.ca, nashvilleshoewarehouse.com, and dockersshoes.com. Genesco Inc. was incorporated in 1934 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.