Head to Head Contrast: Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) and RealReal (NASDAQ:REAL)

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) and RealReal (NASDAQ:REAL) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.0% of Kohl’s shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.7% of RealReal shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Kohl’s shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of RealReal shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Kohl’s has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RealReal has a beta of 2.71, indicating that its stock price is 171% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Kohl’s and RealReal, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kohl’s	5	8	1	1	1.87
RealReal	1	2	6	0	2.56

Kohl’s currently has a consensus target price of $16.17, suggesting a potential downside of 16.97%. RealReal has a consensus target price of $17.75, suggesting a potential upside of 80.02%. Given RealReal’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe RealReal is more favorable than Kohl’s.

Profitability

This table compares Kohl’s and RealReal’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kohl’s	1.75%	6.75%	2.02%
RealReal	-10.82%	N/A	-17.99%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kohl’s and RealReal”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kohl’s	$15.53 billion	0.14	$272.00 million	$2.29	8.50
RealReal	$692.84 million	1.73	-$41.80 million	($1.12)	-8.80

Kohl’s has higher revenue and earnings than RealReal. RealReal is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kohl’s, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Kohl’s beats RealReal on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kohl’s

Kohl’s Corporation operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States. It offers branded apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home products through its stores and website. The company provides its products primarily under the brand names of Croft & Barrow, Jumping Beans, SO, Sonoma Goods for Life, and Tek Gear, as well as Food Network, LC Lauren Conrad, Nine West, and Simply Vera Vera Wang. Kohl’s Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

About RealReal

The RealReal, Inc. operates an online marketplace for resale luxury goods in the United State. The company offers various product categories, including women's fashion, men's fashion, jewelry, and watches. It primarily sells products through online marketplace and retail stores. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.