Contrasting Christopher & Banks (OTCMKTS:CBKCQ) & Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA)

Christopher & Banks (OTCMKTS:CBKCQ) and Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

59.9% of Vera Bradley shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of Christopher & Banks shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.5% of Vera Bradley shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Christopher & Banks and Vera Bradley, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Christopher & Banks	0	0	0	0	0.00
Vera Bradley	1	2	0	0	1.67

Given Christopher & Banks’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Christopher & Banks is more favorable than Vera Bradley.

Risk and Volatility

Christopher & Banks has a beta of -6.93, suggesting that its share price is 793% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vera Bradley has a beta of 1.74, suggesting that its share price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Christopher & Banks and Vera Bradley”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Christopher & Banks	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Vera Bradley	$371.97 million	0.17	-$62.19 million	($3.52)	-0.63

Christopher & Banks has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Vera Bradley.

Profitability

This table compares Christopher & Banks and Vera Bradley’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Christopher & Banks	N/A	N/A	N/A
Vera Bradley	-32.31%	-15.27%	-8.79%

Summary

Christopher & Banks beats Vera Bradley on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Christopher & Banks

Christopher & Banks Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of private-brand women's apparel and accessories in the United States. The company designs and sells women's apparel and accessories to customers ranging in age from 50 and older. Its stores offer women's apparel consisting of casual clothing, everyday basics, wear-to-work, leisure/active wear, and sleepwear in missy, petite, and women sizes, as well as jewelry and accessories. It also operates christopherandbanks.com, an e-commerce website for its Christopher & Banks and CJ Banks brands. The company was formerly known as Braun's Fashions Corporation and changed its name to Christopher & Banks Corporation in July 2000. Christopher & Banks Corporation was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota. On April 13, 2021, the voluntary petition of Christopher & Banks Corporation for reorganization under Chapter 11 was converted to Chapter 7. It had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 13, 2021.

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.