a.k.a. Brands (NYSE:AKA – Get Free Report) and Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED – Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings for a.k.a. Brands and Barnes & Noble Education, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| a.k.a. Brands | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Barnes & Noble Education | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.25 |
a.k.a. Brands currently has a consensus target price of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 76.66%. Barnes & Noble Education has a consensus target price of $17.25, indicating a potential upside of 37.93%. Given a.k.a. Brands’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe a.k.a. Brands is more favorable than Barnes & Noble Education.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| a.k.a. Brands | -4.43% | -20.93% | -5.17% |
| Barnes & Noble Education | 1.29% | 8.77% | 2.66% |
Risk & Volatility
a.k.a. Brands has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barnes & Noble Education has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
55.3% of a.k.a. Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.5% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are held by institutional investors. 18.2% of a.k.a. Brands shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are held 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.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares a.k.a. Brands and Barnes & Noble Education”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| a.k.a. Brands | $600.21 million | 0.20 | -$31.43 million | ($2.48) | -4.34 |
| Barnes & Noble Education | $1.71 billion | 0.25 | $16.87 million | $0.64 | 19.54 |
Barnes & Noble Education has higher revenue and earnings than a.k.a. Brands. a.k.a. Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Barnes & Noble Education, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Barnes & Noble Education beats a.k.a. Brands on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About a.k.a. Brands
a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp. operates a portfolio of online fashion brands in the United States, Australia, and internationally. The company offers streetwear apparel, dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes, headwear, and accessories through its online stores under the Princess Polly, Petal & Pup, Culture Kings, and mnml brands. It also operates physical stores under the Culture Kings brand. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
About Barnes & Noble Education
Barnes and Noble Education, Inc. engages in the management and operation of bookstore chains in universities. It operates through the Retail and Wholesale segments. The Retail segment operates college, university, and K-12 school bookstores, physical bookstores, and virtual bookstores. The Wholesale segment sells and distributes new and used textbooks to physical bookstores. The company was founded by Leonard S, Riggio in 1965 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ.
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