Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) vs. America’s Car-Mart (NASDAQ:CRMT) Head-To-Head Survey

America’s Car-Mart (NASDAQ:CRMT) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) 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, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares America’s Car-Mart and Abercrombie & Fitch’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
America’s Car-Mart	-18.21%	-15.19%	-4.73%
Abercrombie & Fitch	10.03%	33.52%	13.05%

Risk and Volatility

America’s Car-Mart has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abercrombie & Fitch has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for America’s Car-Mart and Abercrombie & Fitch, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
America’s Car-Mart	1	1	0	0	1.50
Abercrombie & Fitch	0	5	9	2	2.81

America’s Car-Mart currently has a consensus price target of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,246.15%. Abercrombie & Fitch has a consensus price target of $157.21, suggesting a potential downside of 4.44%. Given America’s Car-Mart’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe America’s Car-Mart is more favorable than Abercrombie & Fitch.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.1% of America’s Car-Mart shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.4% of America’s Car-Mart shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Abercrombie & Fitch shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares America’s Car-Mart and Abercrombie & Fitch”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
America’s Car-Mart	$1.28 billion	0.01	-$139.11 million	($23.80)	-0.04
Abercrombie & Fitch	$5.27 billion	1.33	$506.92 million	$11.68	14.09

Abercrombie & Fitch has higher revenue and earnings than America’s Car-Mart. America’s Car-Mart is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Abercrombie & Fitch, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Abercrombie & Fitch beats America’s Car-Mart on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About America’s Car-Mart

America’s Car-Mart, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an automotive retailer for the used car market in the United States. It primarily sells older model used vehicles and provides financing for its customers. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Rogers, Arkansas.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. engages in the retail of apparel, personal care products, and accessories. The firm operates through following geographical segments: Americas, EMEA and APAC. The Americas segment includes operations in North America and South America. The EMEA segment includes operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The APAC segment includes operations in the Asia-Pacific region, including Asia and Oceania. The company was founded by David Abercrombie in 1892 and is headquartered in New Albany, OH.