ASICS (OTCMKTS:ASCCF) & Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Head-To-Head Analysis

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) and ASICS (OTCMKTS:ASCCF) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Columbia Sportswear and ASICS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Sportswear	6.05%	11.20%	6.67%
ASICS	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Columbia Sportswear and ASICS, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Sportswear	1	3	2	0	2.17
ASICS	0	0	1	0	3.00

Columbia Sportswear presently has a consensus target price of $65.40, indicating a potential upside of 13.37%. Given Columbia Sportswear’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Columbia Sportswear is more favorable than ASICS.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Columbia Sportswear and ASICS”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Sportswear	$3.40 billion	0.87	$177.22 million	$3.85	14.98
ASICS	N/A	N/A	N/A	$172.46	0.15

Columbia Sportswear has higher revenue and earnings than ASICS. ASICS is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Columbia Sportswear, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Columbia Sportswear pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. ASICS pays an annual dividend of $13.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 51.6%. Columbia Sportswear pays out 31.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ASICS pays out 7.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. ASICS is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

47.8% of Columbia Sportswear shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.2% of ASICS shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.9% of Columbia Sportswear shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Columbia Sportswear beats ASICS on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Columbia Sportswear

Columbia Sportswear Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and distributes outdoor, active, and everyday lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment in the United States, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada. The company provides apparel, accessories, and equipment for hiking, trail running, snow, fishing, hunting, mountaineering, climbing, skiing and snowboarding, trail, and outdoor activities. It offers footwear products that include lightweight hiking boot; trail running shoes; rugged cold weather boots; sandals and shoes for use in water activities; and footwear for lifestyle wear. In addition, it owned network of branded and outlet retail stores; brand-specific e-commerce sites; and concession or franchise-based arrangements with third parties at branded outlet and shop-in-shop retail locations, as well as through independently operated specialty outdoor and sporting goods stores, sporting goods chains, department store chains, internet retailers, and international distributors. The company sells its products under the Columbia, Mountain Hard Wear, SOREL, and prAna brand names. Columbia Sportswear Company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

About ASICS

ASICS Corporation manufactures and sells sporting goods in Japan, North America, Europe, China, Oceania, Southeast and South Asia, and internationally. It offers running shoes, apparel, and sports accessories and equipment. The company sells its products under the ASICS, ASICSTIGER, and Onitsuka Tiger brands through retail stores, as well as online. ASICS Corporation was incorporated in 1943 and is headquartered in Kobe, Japan.