Financial Contrast: PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) & TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX)

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) and PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

TJX Companies has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PetMed Express has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.1% of TJX Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.3% of PetMed Express shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of TJX Companies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of PetMed Express shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for TJX Companies and PetMed Express, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TJX Companies	0	4	16	2	2.91
PetMed Express	3	0	0	0	1.00

TJX Companies currently has a consensus target price of $171.63, suggesting a potential upside of 28.90%. PetMed Express has a consensus target price of $1.40, suggesting a potential upside of 4.87%. Given TJX Companies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe TJX Companies is more favorable than PetMed Express.

Profitability

This table compares TJX Companies and PetMed Express’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TJX Companies	9.73%	56.56%	15.92%
PetMed Express	-17.34%	-91.69%	-35.15%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares TJX Companies and PetMed Express”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TJX Companies	$60.37 billion	2.43	$5.49 billion	$5.41	24.61
PetMed Express	$179.02 million	0.16	-$57.29 million	($1.38)	-0.97

TJX Companies has higher revenue and earnings than PetMed Express. PetMed Express is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TJX Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

TJX Companies beats PetMed Express on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TJX Companies

The TJX Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International. The company sells family apparel, including footwear and accessories; home fashions, such as home basics, furniture, rugs, lighting products, giftware, soft home products, decorative accessories, tabletop, and cookware, as well as expanded pet, and gourmet food departments; jewelry and accessories; and other merchandise. It offers its products through stores and e-commerce sites. The TJX Companies, Inc. was incorporated in 1962 and is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.

About PetMed Express

PetMed Express, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a pet pharmacy in the United States. The company markets prescription and non-prescription pet medications, health products, and other supplies for dogs, cats, and horses. It offers non-prescription medications and supplies, such as flea and tick control products, bone and joint care products, vitamins, treats, nutritional supplements, hygiene products, and household pet supplies; and prescription medications, including heartworm preventatives, flea and tick preventatives, arthritis, dermatitis, thyroid, diabetes, pain medications, heart/blood pressure, and other specialty medications, as well as generic substitutes. The company also sells food, beds, crates, stairs, and other pet supplies. It sells its products through its Internet website; mobile app; customer support center; and direct mail/print, which includes brochures and postcards. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida.