Financial Survey: Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) vs. Bassett Furniture Industries (NASDAQ:BSET)

Bassett Furniture Industries (NASDAQ:BSET) and Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Bassett Furniture Industries has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Newell Brands has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Bassett Furniture Industries and Newell Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bassett Furniture Industries	1.65%	3.56%	1.83%
Newell Brands	-3.05%	12.31%	2.77%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Bassett Furniture Industries and Newell Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bassett Furniture Industries	0	2	0	1	2.67
Newell Brands	2	5	3	0	2.10

Newell Brands has a consensus target price of $6.66, indicating a potential upside of 21.46%. Given Newell Brands’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Newell Brands is more favorable than Bassett Furniture Industries.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bassett Furniture Industries and Newell Brands”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bassett Furniture Industries	$335.28 million	0.46	$6.10 million	$0.64	27.80
Newell Brands	$7.20 billion	0.32	-$285.00 million	($0.53)	-10.34

Bassett Furniture Industries has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Newell Brands. Newell Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bassett Furniture Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

54.4% of Bassett Furniture Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Newell Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.3% of Bassett Furniture Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Newell Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Bassett Furniture Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Newell Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Bassett Furniture Industries pays out 125.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Newell Brands pays out -52.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bassett Furniture Industries has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Newell Brands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

About Bassett Furniture Industries

Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and retails home furnishings in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Wholesale, Retail Company-Owned Stores, and Corporate and Other. The company engages in the design, manufacture, sourcing, sale, and distribution of furniture products, including dining, bedroom and bedding, home decorations, rugs, and outdoor furniture to a network of company-owned retail stores, licensee-owned stores, and independent retailers. The company also distributes its products through multi-line furniture stores, including Bassett galleries or design centers, as well as sells online; and engages in wood and upholstery operations. In addition, it owns and leases land, retail store properties, warehouses, and distribution centers. Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated was founded in 1902 and is based in Bassett, Virginia.

About Newell Brands

Newell Brands Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, sourcing, and distribution of consumer and commercial products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Home and Commercial Solutions, Learning and Development, and Outdoor and Recreation. The Commercial Solutions segment provides commercial cleaning and maintenance solution products under the Rubbermaid, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Mapa, and Spontex brands; closet and garage organization products; hygiene systems and material handling solutions; household products, such as kitchen appliances under the Crockpot, Mr. Coffee, Oster, and Sunbeam brands; small appliances under the Breville brand name in Europe; food and home storage products under the FoodSaver, Rubbermaid, Ball, and Sistema brands; fresh preserving products; vacuum sealing products; and gourmet cookware, bakeware, and cutlery under the Calphalon brand; and home fragrance products under the WoodWick and Yankee Candle brands. The Learning and Development segment offers writing instruments, including markers and highlighters, pens, and pencils; art products; activity-based products; labeling solutions; and baby gear and infant care products under the Dymo, Elmer's, EXPO, Graco, NUK, Paper Mate, Parker, and Sharpie brands. The Outdoor and Recreation segment provides outdoor and outdoor-related products, inlcuding technical apparel and on-the-go beverageware under the Campingaz, Coleman, Contigo, and Marmot brands. It serves warehouse clubs, department and drug/grocery stores, mass merchants, home centers, commercial products distributors, specialty retailers, office superstores and supply stores, contract stationers, e-commerce retailers, and sporting goods, as well as direct to consumers online, select contract customers, and other professional customers. Newell Brands Inc. was founded in 1903 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.