GrowGeneration (NASDAQ:GRWG) versus J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) Critical Survey

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for GrowGeneration and J.Jill, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GrowGeneration	1	1	1	0	2.00
J.Jill	0	5	2	0	2.29

GrowGeneration currently has a consensus target price of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 57.73%. J.Jill has a consensus target price of $23.75, indicating a potential downside of 1.17%. Given GrowGeneration’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe GrowGeneration is more favorable than J.Jill.

Volatility and Risk

GrowGeneration has a beta of 2.56, suggesting that its stock price is 156% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J.Jill has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

36.0% of GrowGeneration shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.7% of J.Jill shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.1% of GrowGeneration 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, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares GrowGeneration and J.Jill”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GrowGeneration	$161.74 million	0.58	-$24.05 million	($0.27)	-5.87
J.Jill	$596.55 million	0.60	$27.89 million	$1.79	13.42

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GrowGeneration	-10.07%	-17.44%	-11.52%
J.Jill	4.62%	28.51%	8.13%

Summary

J.Jill beats GrowGeneration on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GrowGeneration

GrowGeneration Corp., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates retail hydroponic and organic gardening stores in the United States. The company engages in the marketing and distribution of nutrients, additives, growing media, lighting, and environmental control systems, as well as other indoor and outdoor growing products. It operates a chain of stores in California, Colorado, Michigan, Maine, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, Montana, New York, Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, Arizona, Rhode Island, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey, and New Mexico, as well as growgeneration.com, an online superstore for cultivators, a wholesale business for resellers, HRG Distribution, and benching, racking, and storage solutions and MMI. The company was formerly known as Easylife Corp. GrowGeneration Corp. was founded in 2008 and is based in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

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.