Reviewing Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) and Auto Trader Group (OTCMKTS:ATDRY)

Auto Trader Group (OTCMKTS:ATDRY) and Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Auto Trader Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.2% of Dillard’s shares are owned by institutional investors. 34.8% of Dillard’s shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Auto Trader Group and Dillard’s, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Auto Trader Group	1	4	1	0	2.00
Dillard’s	2	3	0	0	1.60

Dillard’s has a consensus price target of $545.67, indicating a potential downside of 15.11%. Given Dillard’s’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Dillard’s is more favorable than Auto Trader Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Auto Trader Group and Dillard’s”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Auto Trader Group	$836.74 million	6.77	$393.91 million	N/A	N/A
Dillard’s	$6.60 billion	1.52	$570.19 million	$43.65	14.73

Dillard’s has higher revenue and earnings than Auto Trader Group.

Dividends

Auto Trader Group pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Dillard’s pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Dillard’s pays out 2.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Dillard’s has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Auto Trader Group and Dillard’s’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Auto Trader Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Dillard’s	10.48%	31.88%	16.20%

Risk & Volatility

Auto Trader Group has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dillard’s has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Dillard’s beats Auto Trader Group on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Auto Trader Group

Auto Trader Group plc operates in the digital automotive marketplace in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company provides vehicle advertisement on its websites for private sellers, as well as insurance and loan financing products to consumers; and display advertising on its websites for manufacturers and their advertising agencies. The company offers its products to retailers, home traders, and logistics firms. Auto Trader Group plc was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Manchester, the United Kingdom.

About Dillard’s

Dillard’s, Inc. engages in the retail of fashion apparel, cosmetics, and home furnishings, and other consumer goods. It operates through the Retail Operations and Construction segments. The Retail Operations segment comprises sells cosmetics, ladies’ apparel, ladies’ accessories and lingerie, juniors’ and children’s apparel, men’s apparel and accessories, shoes, and home and furniture products. The Construction segment constructs and remodels stores through CDI Contractors, LLC. The company was founded by William Thomas Dillard in 1938 and is headquartered in Little Rock, AR.