Head to Head Survey: Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) & J.Jill (NYSE:JILL)

Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) and J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Children’s Place and J.Jill’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Children’s Place	-9.09%	N/A	-12.53%
J.Jill	3.56%	24.44%	6.81%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

40.7% of J.Jill shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Children’s Place shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of J.Jill shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Children’s Place and J.Jill”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Children’s Place	$1.21 billion	0.05	-$88.26 million	($4.84)	-0.52
J.Jill	$596.55 million	0.48	$27.89 million	$1.37	14.03

J.Jill has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Children’s Place. Children’s Place is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than J.Jill, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Children’s Place has a beta of 1.97, indicating that its share price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J.Jill has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Children’s Place and J.Jill, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Children’s Place	1	1	0	0	1.50
J.Jill	0	5	2	0	2.29

Children’s Place currently has a consensus target price of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 59.36%. J.Jill has a consensus target price of $16.50, indicating a potential downside of 14.15%. Given Children’s Place’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Children’s Place is more favorable than J.Jill.

Summary

J.Jill beats Children’s Place on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Children’s Place

The Children’s Place, Inc. engages in the provision of apparel, footwear, accessories, and other items for children. The firm also designs contracts to manufacture and sell fashionable and value-priced merchandise under the brand names of The Children’s Place, Baby Place, and Gymboree. It operates through The Children’s Place U.S. and The Children’s Place International segments. The Children’s Place U.S. segment refers to the company’s U.S. and Puerto Rico-based stores and revenue from its U.S. based wholesale business. The Children’s Place International segment is involved in the Canadian-based stores, revenue from the company’s Canadian-based wholesale business, as well as revenue from international franchisees. The company was founded by David Pulver and Clinton A. Clark in 1969 and is headquartered in Secaucus, NJ.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc. operates as an omnichannel retailer for women's apparel under the J.Jill brand in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, and accessories, including scarves and jewelry. The company markets its products through retail stores, website, and catalogs. J.Jill, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.