Analyzing Christopher & Banks (OTCMKTS:CBKCQ) and Genesco (NYSE:GCO)

Christopher & Banks (OTCMKTS:CBKCQ) and Genesco (NYSE:GCO) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Christopher & Banks and Genesco”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Christopher & Banks	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Genesco	$2.36 billion	0.15	-$18.89 million	($2.44)	-13.06

Christopher & Banks has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Genesco.

Profitability

This table compares Christopher & Banks and Genesco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Christopher & Banks	N/A	N/A	N/A
Genesco	-1.03%	1.75%	0.65%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.5% of Genesco shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Christopher & Banks shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.1% of Genesco shares are held by company 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Christopher & Banks and Genesco, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Christopher & Banks	0	0	0	0	0.00
Genesco	1	3	0	1	2.20

Genesco has a consensus price target of $30.00, suggesting a potential downside of 5.84%. Given Christopher & Banks’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Christopher & Banks is more favorable than Genesco.

Volatility and Risk

Christopher & Banks has a beta of -7.74, meaning that its share price is 874% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Genesco has a beta of 2.23, meaning that its share price is 123% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Genesco beats Christopher & Banks on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Christopher & Banks

Christopher & Banks Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of private-brand women's apparel and accessories in the United States. The company designs and sells women's apparel and accessories to customers ranging in age from 50 and older. Its stores offer women's apparel consisting of casual clothing, everyday basics, wear-to-work, leisure/active wear, and sleepwear in missy, petite, and women sizes, as well as jewelry and accessories. It also operates christopherandbanks.com, an e-commerce website for its Christopher & Banks and CJ Banks brands. The company was formerly known as Braun's Fashions Corporation and changed its name to Christopher & Banks Corporation in July 2000. Christopher & Banks Corporation was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota. On April 13, 2021, the voluntary petition of Christopher & Banks Corporation for reorganization under Chapter 11 was converted to Chapter 7. It had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 13, 2021.

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.