Head-To-Head Contrast: Zalando (OTCMKTS:ZLNDY) vs. Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST)

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) and Zalando (OTCMKTS:ZLNDY) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ross Stores and Zalando, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ross Stores	0	6	15	0	2.71
Zalando	0	1	1	2	3.25

Ross Stores currently has a consensus price target of $263.76, indicating a potential upside of 17.64%. Given Ross Stores’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ross Stores is more favorable than Zalando.

Risk and Volatility

Ross Stores has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zalando has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ross Stores and Zalando”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ross Stores	$22.75 billion	3.15	$2.15 billion	$8.26	27.14
Zalando	$13.97 billion	0.44	$243.36 million	$0.22	56.91

Ross Stores has higher revenue and earnings than Zalando. Ross Stores is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zalando, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Ross Stores and Zalando’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ross Stores	10.85%	39.29%	15.79%
Zalando	0.70%	3.46%	1.06%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.9% of Ross Stores shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Ross Stores shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ross Stores beats Zalando on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income. Ross Stores, Inc. was incorporated in 1957 and is headquartered in Dublin, California.

About Zalando

Zalando SE operates an online platform for fashion and lifestyle products. The company operates through Fashion Store and Offprice segments. It provides shoes, apparel, accessories, and beauty products with free delivery and returns, as well as various payment options. The company also sells its products through Lounge by Zalando; and brick-and-mortar outlet stores. It operates in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.