Financial Review: Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) versus Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB)

Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) and Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wolverine World Wide and Xcel Brands”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wolverine World Wide	$1.95 billion	0.87	$95.80 million	$1.29	15.98
Xcel Brands	$4.94 million	0.87	-$17.46 million	($3.39)	-0.21

Wolverine World Wide has higher revenue and earnings than Xcel Brands. Xcel Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wolverine World Wide, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Wolverine World Wide has a beta of 1.73, indicating that its share price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xcel Brands has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Wolverine World Wide and Xcel Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wolverine World Wide	5.55%	28.50%	7.23%
Xcel Brands	-343.68%	-109.17%	-42.19%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.2% of Wolverine World Wide shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of Xcel Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Wolverine World Wide shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.5% of Xcel Brands shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Wolverine World Wide and Xcel Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wolverine World Wide	0	6	5	0	2.45
Xcel Brands	1	0	1	0	2.00

Wolverine World Wide currently has a consensus price target of $23.50, suggesting a potential upside of 14.03%. Xcel Brands has a consensus price target of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 322.54%. Given Xcel Brands’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Xcel Brands is more favorable than Wolverine World Wide.

Summary

Wolverine World Wide beats Xcel Brands on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wolverine World Wide

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. designs, manufactures, sources, markets, licenses, and distributes footwear, apparel, and accessories in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America. It operates through Active Group and Work Group segments. The company offers casual footwear and apparel; performance outdoor and athletic footwear and apparel; kids' footwear; industrial work boots and apparel; and uniform shoes and boots. The company sources and markets a range of footwear and apparel styles, including shoes, boots and sandals under the Bates, Cat, Chaco, Harley-Davidson, Hush Puppies, Hytest, Merrell, Saucony, Sperry, Keds, Sweaty Betty, and Wolverine brands; and licenses under the Stride Rite brand. It also markets Merrell and Wolverine branded apparel and accessories, as well as licenses its brands for use on non-footwear products, including the Hush Puppies apparel, eyewear, watches, socks, handbags, and plush toys; and Wolverine branded eyewear and gloves. In addition, the company markets pigskin leather under the Wolverine Leather division; sourcing division provides consulting services related to product development, production control, quality assurance, materials procurement, compliance, and other service; and multi-brand direct-to-consumer division includes retail stores that sell footwear and apparel of its brand portfolio. Further, it sells its products to department stores, national chains, catalog and specialty retailers, independent retailers, uniform outlets, and mass merchant and government customers through retail stores, third-party licensees and distributors, and joint ventures; and operates brick and mortar retails stores, and e-commerce sites. Additionally, the company operates through a network of retail stores and e-commerce sites. Wolverine World Wide, Inc. was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in Rockford, Michigan.

About Xcel Brands

Xcel Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media and consumer products company in the United States. The company designs, produces, markets, wholesales, and sells branded apparel, footwear, accessories, jewelry, home goods, and other consumer products; and acquires consumer lifestyle brands, including the Isaac Mizrahi, the LOGO by Lori Goldstein, the Judith Ripka, the Halston brand, the C Wonder, the TowerHill by Christie Brinkley brand (the CB brand), and other brands, as well as manages the Longaberger brand. It licenses its brands to third parties; and designs, produces, markets, and distributes through an omni-channel retail sales strategy, which include distribution through interactive television, digital live-stream shopping, brick-and-mortar retail, and e-commerce channels. The company also offers live streaming, social media and other marketing, and public relations support for its brands. In addition, it markets its brands through www.isaacmizrahi.com; www.halston.com; www.judithripka.com; www.cwonder.com; www.lorigoldstein.com; and www.longaberger.com. Xcel Brands, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in New York, New York.