Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) & Boot Barn (NYSE:BOOT) Head to Head Survey

Boot Barn (NYSE:BOOT) and Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Boot Barn and Vera Bradley, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Boot Barn	0	1	13	1	3.00
Vera Bradley	1	2	0	0	1.67

Boot Barn currently has a consensus price target of $217.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.51%. Given Boot Barn’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Boot Barn is more favorable than Vera Bradley.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

59.9% of Vera Bradley shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Boot Barn shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.1% of Vera Bradley shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Boot Barn has a beta of 1.67, suggesting that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vera Bradley has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Boot Barn and Vera Bradley’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Boot Barn	10.10%	18.28%	9.99%
Vera Bradley	-34.23%	-18.30%	-10.02%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Boot Barn and Vera Bradley”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Boot Barn	$1.91 billion	3.18	$180.94 million	$7.12	28.09
Vera Bradley	$371.97 million	0.21	-$62.19 million	($3.50)	-0.81

Boot Barn has higher revenue and earnings than Vera Bradley. Vera Bradley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Boot Barn, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Boot Barn beats Vera Bradley on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Boot Barn

Boot Barn Holdings, Inc., a lifestyle retail chain, operates specialty retail stores in the United States. The company's specialty retail stores offer western and work-related footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and kids. It offers boots, shirts, jackets, hats, belts and belt buckles, handbags, western-style jewelry, rugged footwear, outerwear, overalls, denim, and flame-resistant and high-visibility clothing. The company also provides gifts and home merchandise. The company also sells its products through e-commerce websites, including bootbarn.com; sheplers.com; and countryoutfitter.com. The company was formerly known as WW Top Investment Corporation and changed its name to Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. in June 2014. Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is based in Irvine, California.

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.