Comparing Buckle (NYSE:BKE) and Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT)

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) and Buckle (NYSE:BKE) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.6% of Haverty Furniture Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.9% of Buckle shares are held by institutional investors. 8.4% of Haverty Furniture Companies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 38.4% of Buckle shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Haverty Furniture Companies and Buckle, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Haverty Furniture Companies	1	1	0	0	1.50
Buckle	0	2	0	0	2.00

Buckle has a consensus price target of $46.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.43%. Given Buckle’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Buckle is more favorable than Haverty Furniture Companies.

Volatility & Risk

Haverty Furniture Companies has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Buckle has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Haverty Furniture Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Buckle pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Haverty Furniture Companies pays out 89.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Buckle pays out 32.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Haverty Furniture Companies has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Haverty Furniture Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Haverty Furniture Companies and Buckle”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Haverty Furniture Companies	$758.99 million	0.54	$19.73 million	$1.47	17.85
Buckle	$1.30 billion	1.75	$209.74 million	$4.34	10.15

Buckle has higher revenue and earnings than Haverty Furniture Companies. Buckle is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Haverty Furniture Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Haverty Furniture Companies and Buckle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Haverty Furniture Companies	3.10%	6.96%	3.21%
Buckle	16.62%	46.91%	20.97%

Summary

Buckle beats Haverty Furniture Companies on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Haverty Furniture Companies

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. is a home furnishings retailer that sells furniture, mattresses and home accessories through its Havertys stores and online. Its merchandise includes products for living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms and other areas of the home, with offerings from both national brands and its own private-label collections. Founded in Atlanta in 1885, the company has grown from a single furniture store into a regional retailer serving customers across parts of the southeastern and midwestern United States.

About Buckle

The Buckle, Inc. is a specialty retailer of casual apparel, footwear and accessories. Its stores offer clothing for men and women, with a particular focus on denim, alongside tops, outerwear, shoes and fashion accessories. The company sells merchandise from national brands as well as private-label lines, and combines its in-store business with online sales. Its retail locations serve customers across the United States. Founded in Nebraska in 1948 as Mills Clothing, the company later adopted The Buckle name.