Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI – Get Free Report) and Lakeland Industries (NASDAQ:LAKE – Get Free Report) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.
Dividends
Levi Strauss & Co. pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Lakeland Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Levi Strauss & Co. pays out 39.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lakeland Industries pays out -3.3% 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 and Lakeland Industries has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Levi Strauss & Co. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
69.1% of Levi Strauss & Co. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.7% of Lakeland Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Levi Strauss & Co. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Lakeland Industries shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Levi Strauss & Co. | $6.28 billion | 1.24 | $578.10 million | $1.62 | 12.45 |
| Lakeland Industries | $190.96 million | 0.52 | -$25.31 million | ($2.71) | -3.72 |
Levi Strauss & Co. has higher revenue and earnings than Lakeland Industries. Lakeland Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Levi Strauss & Co., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Levi Strauss & Co. and Lakeland Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Levi Strauss & Co. | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 2.80 |
| Lakeland Industries | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.40 |
Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus target price of $27.43, indicating a potential upside of 35.95%. Lakeland Industries has a consensus target price of $15.60, indicating a potential upside of 54.76%. Given Lakeland Industries’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lakeland Industries is more favorable than Levi Strauss & Co..
Risk and Volatility
Levi Strauss & Co. has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeland Industries has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Levi Strauss & Co. and Lakeland Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Levi Strauss & Co. | 9.66% | 25.79% | 8.61% |
| Lakeland Industries | -13.99% | -11.35% | -6.94% |
Summary
Levi Strauss & Co. beats Lakeland Industries on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Lakeland Industries
Lakeland Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells industrial protective clothing and accessories for the industrial and public protective clothing market worldwide. It offers firefighting and heat protective apparel to protect against fire; high-end chemical protective suits to provide protection from highly concentrated, toxic and/or lethal chemicals, and biological toxins; and limited use/disposable protective clothing, such as coveralls, laboratory coats, shirts, pants, hoods, aprons, sleeves, arm guards, caps, and smocks. The company provides durable woven garments, including electrostatic dissipative apparel used in electronics clean rooms; flame resistant meta aramid, para aramid, and FR cotton coveralls/pants/jackets used in petrochemical, refining operations, and electrical utilities; FR fabrics; and cotton and polycotton coveralls, lab coats, pants, and shirts. In addition, it provides high visibility clothing comprising reflective apparel, including vests, T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, coats, raingear, jumpsuits, hats, and gloves; and gloves and sleeves that are used in the automotive, glass, and metal fabrication industries. The company sells its products to a network of safety and industrial supply distributors through in-house sales teams, customer service group, and independent sales representatives. It serves end users, such as integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, automobile, steel, glass, construction, smelting, cleanroom, janitorial, pharmaceutical, and high technology electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific, medical laboratories, and the utilities industry; and federal, state, and local governmental agencies and departments. Lakeland Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.
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