Financial Review: Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) versus Esprit (OTCMKTS:ESPGY)

Esprit (OTCMKTS:ESPGY) and Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Esprit and Zumiez, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esprit	0	0	0	0	0.00
Zumiez	0	2	0	1	2.67

Zumiez has a consensus price target of $18.00, indicating a potential downside of 31.01%. Given Zumiez’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Zumiez is more favorable than Esprit.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Esprit and Zumiez”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Esprit	$5.38 million	0.26	-$157.30 million	N/A	N/A
Zumiez	$889.20 million	0.50	-$1.71 million	$0.48	54.35

Zumiez has higher revenue and earnings than Esprit.

Profitability

This table compares Esprit and Zumiez’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esprit	N/A	N/A	N/A
Zumiez	0.94%	2.33%	1.14%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.5% of Zumiez shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.3% of Zumiez shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Zumiez beats Esprit on 11 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Esprit

Esprit Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, engages in retail and wholesale distribution, and licensing of fashion and non-apparel products. It operates through Europe; Asia; E-shop; and Corporate Services, Sourcing, Licensing and Others segments. The company offers apparel and accessories under the ESPRIT brand name through retail stores and e-commerce platforms. It is also involved in the sourcing, purchasing, distributing, and sale of merchandise; provision of financial and treasury services, as well as logistic services comprising customs dealing and quality control; design and image directions; and conceptualization and development of global uniform image businesses. Esprit Holdings Limited was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in North Point, Hong Kong.

About Zumiez

Zumiez Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories, and hardgoods for young men and women. The company provides hardgoods, including skateboards, snowboards, bindings, components, and other equipment. It operates stores in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia under the names of Zumiez, Blue Tomato, and Fast Times. It operates zumiez.com, zumiez.ca, blue-tomato.com, and fasttimes.com.au e-commerce websites. Zumiez Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Lynnwood, Washington.