J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) and Tapestry (NYSE:TPR) Critical Survey

Tapestry (NYSE:TPR) and J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) 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, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Tapestry and J.Jill’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tapestry	3.77%	116.42%	17.30%
J.Jill	5.60%	36.33%	9.75%

Dividends

Tapestry pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. J.Jill pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Tapestry pays out 142.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. J.Jill pays out 14.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Tapestry has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and J.Jill has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. J.Jill is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Tapestry and J.Jill, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tapestry	0	5	14	1	2.80
J.Jill	2	2	2	0	2.00

Tapestry currently has a consensus target price of $129.11, indicating a potential downside of 2.35%. J.Jill has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.53%. Given J.Jill’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe J.Jill is more favorable than Tapestry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.8% of Tapestry shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.7% of J.Jill shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Tapestry shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of J.Jill shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Tapestry and J.Jill”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tapestry	$7.01 billion	3.86	$183.20 million	$1.12	118.04
J.Jill	$610.86 million	0.41	$39.48 million	$2.19	7.64

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

Risk & Volatility

Tapestry has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J.Jill has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Tapestry beats J.Jill on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tapestry

Tapestry, Inc. provides luxury accessories and branded lifestyle products in the United States, Japan, Greater China, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman. It offers women’s handbags; and women’s accessories, such as small leather goods which includes mini and micro handbags, money pieces, wristlets, pouches, and cosmetic cases, as well as novelty accessories including address books, time management and travel accessories, sketchbooks, and portfolios; and belts, key rings, and charms. The company also provides men products, which includes bag collections, such as business cases, computer bags, messenger-style bags, backpacks, and totes; small leather goods including wallets, card cases, travel organizers, and belts; and footwear, watches, fragrances, sunglasses, novelty accessories, and ready-to-wear items. In addition, it offers other products including women’s footwear and fragrances; eyewear and sunglasses; and jewelry, such as bracelets, necklaces, rings, and earrings, watches, and other women’s seasonal lifestyle apparel collections, including outerwear, ready-to-wear and cold weather accessories, such as gloves, scarves, and hats. Further, the company provides kids items, housewares, and home accessories, such as fashion bedding and tableware, stationery, and gifts. It offers its products through e-commerce sites and concession shop-in-shops, wholesale, and third-party distributors under the Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman brand names. The company was formerly known as Coach, Inc. and changed its name to Tapestry, Inc. in October 2017. Tapestry, Inc. was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc. operates as an omnichannel retailer for women's apparel under the J.Jill brand in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, and accessories, including scarves and jewelry. The company markets its products through retail stores, website, and catalogs. J.Jill, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.