Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) and Hennes & Mauritz (OTCMKTS:HNNMY) Financial Contrast

Hennes & Mauritz (OTCMKTS:HNNMY) and Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Hennes & Mauritz has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Levi Strauss & Co. has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Hennes & Mauritz and Levi Strauss & Co.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hennes & Mauritz	5.48%	30.79%	7.32%
Levi Strauss & Co.	9.52%	25.35%	8.32%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Hennes & Mauritz and Levi Strauss & Co., as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hennes & Mauritz	2	4	0	1	2.00
Levi Strauss & Co.	0	3	13	0	2.81

Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus target price of $26.79, indicating a potential upside of 11.59%. Given Levi Strauss & Co.’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Levi Strauss & Co. is more favorable than Hennes & Mauritz.

Dividends

Hennes & Mauritz pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Levi Strauss & Co. pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Hennes & Mauritz pays out 50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Levi Strauss & Co. pays out 35.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Levi Strauss & Co. has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Levi Strauss & Co. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hennes & Mauritz and Levi Strauss & Co.”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hennes & Mauritz	$23.01 billion	1.09	$1.23 billion	$0.16	22.25
Levi Strauss & Co.	$6.28 billion	1.47	$578.10 million	$1.57	15.29

Hennes & Mauritz has higher revenue and earnings than Levi Strauss & Co.. Levi Strauss & Co. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hennes & Mauritz, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Hennes & Mauritz shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.1% of Levi Strauss & Co. shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Levi Strauss & Co. shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Levi Strauss & Co. beats Hennes & Mauritz on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hennes & Mauritz

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) provides clothing, accessories, footwear, cosmetics, home textiles, and homeware for women, men, and children worldwide. It offers sportswear, shoes, bags, beauty products, activewear, jeans, and ready-to-wear; and interior products, including bed linens, dinnerware, textiles, furniture, and lighting. The company provides its products under the H&M, H&M HOME, H&M Move, H&M Beauty, COS, Weekday, Monki, & Other Stories, ARKET, Afound, and Singular Society brand names. In addition, it operates Sellpy, a broad digital platform for second-hand fashion and other products; and Creator Studio, a global platform for merchandise design and production, as well as provides solutions to extend the useful life of unwanted garments through reuse and recycling under Looper Textile name. The company offers its products through online and physical stores. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was incorporated in 1943 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co. engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.