Head-To-Head Survey: Driven Brands (NASDAQ:DRVN) vs. Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM)

Driven Brands (NASDAQ:DRVN) and Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.1% of Driven Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of Williams-Sonoma shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of Driven Brands shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Williams-Sonoma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Driven Brands and Williams-Sonoma, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Driven Brands	2	7	6	2	2.47
Williams-Sonoma	0	8	10	0	2.56

Driven Brands presently has a consensus target price of $16.23, suggesting a potential upside of 39.31%. Williams-Sonoma has a consensus target price of $245.56, suggesting a potential upside of 2.59%. Given Driven Brands’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Driven Brands is more favorable than Williams-Sonoma.

Risk and Volatility

Driven Brands has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Williams-Sonoma has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Driven Brands and Williams-Sonoma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Driven Brands	8.61%	24.13%	5.03%
Williams-Sonoma	14.73%	53.48%	20.50%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Driven Brands and Williams-Sonoma”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Driven Brands	$1.86 billion	1.03	$140.16 million	$1.04	11.20
Williams-Sonoma	$7.81 billion	3.61	$1.09 billion	$9.77	24.50

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

Summary

Williams-Sonoma beats Driven Brands on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Driven Brands

Driven Brands Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides automotive services to retail and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers various services, such as paint, collision, glass, repair, car wash, oil change, and maintenance services. The company also distributes automotive parts, including radiators, air conditioning components, and exhaust products to automotive repair shops, auto parts stores, body shops, and other auto repair outlets; windshields and glass accessories through a network of distribution centers; and consumable products, such as oil filters and wiper blades, as well as training services to repair and maintenance, and paint and collision shops. It sells its products and services under the CARSTAR, IMO, MAACO, Meineke Car Care Centers, PH Vitres D’Autos, Take 5 Oil Change, Take 5 Car Wash, Auto Glass Now, Fix Auto USA, and 1-800-Radiator & A/C, Spire Supply, and Automotive Training Institute brands. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; personalized products and custom gifts under the Mark and Graham brand; and colorful and vintage-inspired heirloom products under the GreenRow, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and décor industry under the Outward brand. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.