Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED – Get Free Report) and SNDL (NASDAQ:SNDL – Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
38.5% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
Barnes & Noble Education has a beta of 1.44, suggesting that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SNDL has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Barnes & Noble Education | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.25 |
| SNDL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
Barnes & Noble Education presently has a consensus target price of $17.25, suggesting a potential upside of 37.93%. Given Barnes & Noble Education’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Barnes & Noble Education is more favorable than SNDL.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Barnes & Noble Education and SNDL”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Barnes & Noble Education | $1.71 billion | 0.25 | $16.87 million | $0.64 | 19.54 |
| SNDL | $677.32 million | 0.46 | -$11.29 million | ($0.06) | -20.33 |
Barnes & Noble Education has higher revenue and earnings than SNDL. SNDL is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Barnes & Noble Education, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Barnes & Noble Education and SNDL’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Barnes & Noble Education | 1.29% | 8.77% | 2.66% |
| SNDL | -2.36% | -2.01% | -1.67% |
Summary
Barnes & Noble Education beats SNDL on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Barnes & Noble Education
Barnes and Noble Education, Inc. engages in the management and operation of bookstore chains in universities. It operates through the Retail and Wholesale segments. The Retail segment operates college, university, and K-12 school bookstores, physical bookstores, and virtual bookstores. The Wholesale segment sells and distributes new and used textbooks to physical bookstores. The company was founded by Leonard S, Riggio in 1965 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ.
About SNDL
SNDL Inc. engages in the production, distribution, and sale of cannabis products in Canada. The company operates through Liquor Retail, Cannabis Retail, Cannabis Operations, and Investments segments. It engages in the cultivation, distribution, and sale of cannabis for the adult-use and medical markets; sells wines, beers, and spirits through wholly owned liquor stores; and private sale of recreational cannabis through wholly owned and franchised retail cannabis stores. In addition, the company produces and distributes inhalable products, such as flower, pre-rolls, and vapes. It offers its products under the Top Leaf, Sundial Cannabis, Palmetto, and Grasslands brands. The company was formerly known as Sundial Growers Inc. and changed its name to SNDL Inc. in July 2022. SNDL Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
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