Head to Head Comparison: Lulu’s Fashion Lounge (NASDAQ:LVLU) versus Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA)

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge (NASDAQ:LVLU) and Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

73.8% of Lulu’s Fashion Lounge shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.9% of Vera Bradley shares are held by institutional investors. 6.8% of Lulu’s Fashion Lounge shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.1% of Vera Bradley shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vera Bradley has a beta of 1.78, meaning that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lulu’s Fashion Lounge and Vera Bradley”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	$315.89 million	0.13	-$55.29 million	($16.16)	-0.90
Vera Bradley	$371.97 million	0.21	-$62.19 million	($3.50)	-0.81

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Vera Bradley. Lulu’s Fashion Lounge is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vera Bradley, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lulu’s Fashion Lounge and Vera Bradley’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	-15.83%	-251.91%	-15.75%
Vera Bradley	-34.23%	-18.30%	-10.02%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Lulu’s Fashion Lounge and Vera Bradley, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lulu’s Fashion Lounge	1	1	0	0	1.50
Vera Bradley	2	1	0	0	1.33

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.45%. Given Lulu’s Fashion Lounge’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Lulu’s Fashion Lounge is more favorable than Vera Bradley.

Summary

Vera Bradley beats Lulu’s Fashion Lounge on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lulu’s Fashion Lounge

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge Holdings, Inc. engages in providing an online website for clothing. It offers retailing of women’s clothing, shoes, and accessories. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Chico, CA.

About Vera Bradley

Vera Bradley, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells women’s handbags, luggage and travel items, fashion and home accessories, and gifts. It operates through three segments: Vera Bradley Direct, Vera Bradley Indirect, and Pura Vida. The company offers bag products, such as totes, crossbodies, satchels, clutches, backpacks, baby bags, and lunch bags; accessories, including ID holders, lanyards, wallets, wristlets, eyewear, scarves, hair accessories, and various technology accessories; bracelets, rings, and necklaces under Pura Vida brand name; and travel products consist of rolling luggage, cosmetics, and travel and packing accessories, as well as travel bags comprising duffel and weekend bags. It also provides home products that include throw blankets, beach towels, and comforters, as well as items, such as mugs and tumblers; apparel/footwear comprising sleepwear, footwear, outerwear, tees and hoodies, and socks; and stationery and merchandising products, as well as freight, licensing, and gift card breakage services. The company sells its Vera Bradley branded products through its full-line and outlet stores in the United States; verabradley.com, an online outlet site; its annual outlet sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It sells its Pura Vida branded products through wholesale retailers and Pura Vida websites, including www.puravidabracelets.com, www.puravidabracelets.eu, and www.puravidabracelets.ca; and Vera Bradley Indirect branded products to specialty retail locations, department stores, national accounts, third party e-commerce sites, third-party inventory liquidators, and through licensing agreements. Vera Bradley, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Roanoke, Indiana.