Head-To-Head Analysis: Buckle (NYSE:BKE) vs. Li Ning (OTCMKTS:LNNGY)

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) and Li Ning (OTCMKTS:LNNGY) are both mid-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

53.9% of Buckle shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.0% of Buckle shares are owned by company 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.

Risk & Volatility

Buckle has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Li Ning has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Buckle and Li Ning’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Buckle	16.85%	47.35%	21.36%
Li Ning	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Buckle pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Li Ning pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Buckle pays out 32.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Buckle and Li Ning, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Buckle	0	2	0	0	2.00
Li Ning	0	1	0	1	3.00

Buckle currently has a consensus target price of $47.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.90%. Given Buckle’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Buckle is more favorable than Li Ning.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Buckle and Li Ning”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Buckle	$1.30 billion	1.80	$209.74 million	$4.36	10.38
Li Ning	$4.12 billion	1.44	$408.36 million	N/A	N/A

Li Ning has higher revenue and earnings than Buckle.

Summary

Buckle beats Li Ning on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Buckle

The Buckle, Inc. operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the United States. It markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear, as well as private label merchandise primarily comprising BKE, Buckle Black, Salvage, Red by BKE, Daytrip, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, FITZ + EDDI, Willow & Root, Outpost Makers, Departwest, Sterling & Stitch, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B. Holt, Modish Rebel, Maven Co-op, and Veece. The company provides services, such as hemming, gift-packaging, layaways, guest loyalty program, the Buckle private label credit card, and personalized stylist services, as well as special order system that allows stores to obtain requested merchandise from other company stores or its online order fulfillment center. The Buckle, Inc. also sells its products through its website, buckle.com. The company was formerly known as Mills Clothing, Inc. and changed its name to The Buckle, Inc. in April 1991.The Buckle, Inc. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska.

About Li Ning

Li Ning Company Limited, a sports brand company, engages in the research and development, design, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and retail of sporting goods in the People’s Republic of China. The company offers sporting goods, including professional and leisure footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories under the LI-NING brand. It also develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and/or sells outdoor sports products under the AIGLE brand; table tennis products under the Double Happiness brand name; fashionable fitness products for dance and yoga under the Danskin brand; and badminton products under the Kason brand name. The company also provides brand licensing, administrative, and property management services. It operates conventional stores, flagship stores, China LI-NING stores, LI-NING 1990 stores, factory outlets, and multi-brand stores under the LI-NING brand. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.