Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) and ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) Head-To-Head Review

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) and Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ARKO and Zumiez”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ARKO	$7.93 billion	0.06	$22.74 million	$0.07	60.44
Zumiez	$932.75 million	0.22	$13.38 million	$0.72	18.33

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for ARKO and Zumiez, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ARKO	1	1	1	0	2.00
Zumiez	0	3	0	0	2.00

ARKO presently has a consensus price target of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 242.71%. Given ARKO’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ARKO is more favorable than Zumiez.

Volatility & Risk

ARKO has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zumiez has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ARKO and Zumiez’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ARKO	0.19%	4.02%	0.41%
Zumiez	1.36%	3.71%	1.78%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.3% of ARKO shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.4% of Zumiez shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.9% of ARKO shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.3% of Zumiez shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Zumiez beats ARKO on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ARKO

Arko Corp. operates convenience stores in the United States. It operates through Retail, Wholesale, Fleet Fueling, and GPMP segments. The Retail segment engages in the sale of fuel and merchandise to retail consumers. Its Wholesale segment supplies fuel to third-party dealers and consignment agents. The Fleet Fueling segment supplies fuel to proprietary and third-party cardlock, and issuance of proprietary fuel cards. Its GPMP segment supplies fuel to retail and wholesale segments. The company is based in Richmond, Virginia.

About Zumiez

Zumiez Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories, and hardgoods for young men and women. The company provides hardgoods, including skateboards, snowboards, bindings, components, and other equipment. It operates stores in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia under the names of Zumiez, Blue Tomato, and Fast Times. It operates zumiez.com, zumiez.ca, blue-tomato.com, and fasttimes.com.au e-commerce websites. Zumiez Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Lynnwood, Washington.