Head-To-Head Survey: Ermenegildo Zegna (NYSE:ZGN) & Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN)

Ermenegildo Zegna (NYSE:ZGN) and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) are both mid-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Ermenegildo Zegna and Urban Outfitters, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ermenegildo Zegna	0	4	5	0	2.56
Urban Outfitters	0	5	8	1	2.71

Ermenegildo Zegna currently has a consensus price target of $13.23, indicating a potential downside of 11.16%. Urban Outfitters has a consensus price target of $87.91, indicating a potential upside of 17.59%. Given Urban Outfitters’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Urban Outfitters is more favorable than Ermenegildo Zegna.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ermenegildo Zegna and Urban Outfitters”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ermenegildo Zegna	$2.17 billion	2.91	$111.54 million	N/A	N/A
Urban Outfitters	$6.17 billion	1.04	$464.92 million	$5.21	14.35

Urban Outfitters has higher revenue and earnings than Ermenegildo Zegna.

Profitability

This table compares Ermenegildo Zegna and Urban Outfitters’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ermenegildo Zegna	N/A	N/A	N/A
Urban Outfitters	7.48%	18.92%	10.45%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

12.9% of Ermenegildo Zegna shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.6% of Urban Outfitters shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Ermenegildo Zegna shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 32.1% of Urban Outfitters shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Ermenegildo Zegna has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Urban Outfitters has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Urban Outfitters beats Ermenegildo Zegna on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ermenegildo Zegna

Ermenegildo Zegna N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes luxury menswear, footwear, leather goods, and other accessories under the Zegna and the Thom Browne brands. It provides luxury leisurewear for men; formal suits, tuxedos, shirts, blazers, formal overcoats, and accessories; leather accessories comprising shoes, bags, belts, and small leather accessories; and fragrances. The company also offers luxury womenswear and childrenswear under the Thom Browne brand, as well as provides eyewear, cufflinks and jewelry, watches, underwear, and beachwear manufactured by third parties under licenses. It serves customers through its retail stores and online channels in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company was founded in 1910 and is based in Trivero, Italy. Ermenegildo Zegna N.V. operates as a subsidiary of Monterubello Societa’ Semplice.

About Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters, Inc. engages in the retail and wholesale of general consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Nuuly. It operates Urban Outfitters stores, which offer women's and men's fashion apparel, activewear, intimates, footwear, accessories, home goods, electronics, and beauty products for young adults aged 18 to 28; and Anthropologie stores that provide women's apparel, accessories, intimates, shoes, and home furnishings, as well as gifts, decorative items, and beauty and wellness products for women aged 28 to 45. The company also operates Terrain stores that provide lifestyle home products, garden and outdoor living products, antiques, live plants, flowers, wellness products, and accessories. In addition, it operates Free People retail stores, which offer casual women's apparel, intimates, activewear, shoes, accessories, home products, gifts, and beauty and wellness products for young women aged 25 to 30; and restaurants, as well as women's apparel subscription rental service under the Nuuly brand. Further, the company is involved in the wholesale of young women's contemporary casual apparel, intimates, activewear, and shoes under the Free People brand; and apparel collections under the Urban Outfitters brand. The company serves its customers directly through retail stores, websites, mobile applications, catalogs and customer contact centers, franchisee-owned stores, and department and specialty stores, as well as social media and third-party digital platforms. Urban Outfitters, Inc. was founded in 1970 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.