Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) & Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL) Financial Survey

Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL) and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.1% of Shoe Carnival shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.6% of Urban Outfitters shares are held by institutional investors. 35.5% of Shoe Carnival shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 31.8% of Urban Outfitters shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Shoe Carnival and Urban Outfitters’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shoe Carnival	5.06%	8.75%	5.05%
Urban Outfitters	8.15%	18.33%	10.04%

Volatility & Risk

Shoe Carnival has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Urban Outfitters has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Shoe Carnival and Urban Outfitters, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shoe Carnival	0	3	0	0	2.00
Urban Outfitters	1	8	8	1	2.50

Urban Outfitters has a consensus price target of $86.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.27%. Given Urban Outfitters’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Urban Outfitters is more favorable than Shoe Carnival.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Shoe Carnival and Urban Outfitters”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shoe Carnival	$1.20 billion	0.40	$73.77 million	$2.10	8.31
Urban Outfitters	$5.55 billion	1.21	$402.46 million	$5.30	14.16

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

Summary

Urban Outfitters beats Shoe Carnival on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shoe Carnival

Shoe Carnival, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a family footwear retailer in the United States. The company offers range of dress, casual, work, and athletic shoes, as well as sandals and boots for men, women, and children; and various accessories. The company also operates stores, and sells its products through online shopping at shoecarnival.com, as well as through mobile app. Shoe Carnival, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Evansville, Indiana.

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.