Reviewing Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) and Winmark (NASDAQ:WINA)

Winmark (NASDAQ:WINA) and Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.3% of Winmark shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.6% of Haverty Furniture Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.4% of Winmark shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Haverty Furniture Companies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Winmark pays an annual dividend of $4.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Haverty Furniture Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Winmark pays out 37.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Haverty Furniture Companies pays out 97.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Winmark has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Haverty Furniture Companies has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Winmark and Haverty Furniture Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Winmark	47.09%	-99.47%	103.54%
Haverty Furniture Companies	2.93%	7.15%	3.34%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Winmark and Haverty Furniture Companies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Winmark	0	1	0	0	2.00
Haverty Furniture Companies	0	2	0	0	2.00

Risk and Volatility

Winmark has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Haverty Furniture Companies has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Winmark and Haverty Furniture Companies”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Winmark	$86.53 million	12.24	$41.65 million	$11.02	26.76
Haverty Furniture Companies	$780.39 million	0.55	$19.73 million	$1.36	20.22

Winmark has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Haverty Furniture Companies. Haverty Furniture Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Winmark, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Winmark beats Haverty Furniture Companies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Winmark

Winmark Corporation, a resale company operates as a franchisor for small business in the United States and Canada. The company franchises retail stores concepts that buy, sell and trade merchandise. It also operates middle-market equipment leasing business. In addition, the company buys and sells used clothing and accessories geared toward the teenage and young adult market under Plato’s Closet brand; and operates stores which buys and sells used and new children’s clothing, toys, furniture, equipment, and accessories primarily to parents of children ages infant to 12 years under the Once Upon A Child brand. Further, it buys, sells, trades in, and used and new sporting goods, equipment, and accessories for various athletic activities including team sports, such as baseball/softball, hockey, football, lacrosse, and soccer, as well as fitness, ski/snowboard, golf, and others under the Play It Again Sports brand; and buys and sells used women’s apparel, shoes, and accessories under the Style Encore brand. Additionally, the company buys, sells, trades in, and used and new musical instruments, speakers, amplifiers, music-related electronics, and related accessories under the Music Go Round brand. Winmark Corporation was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Haverty Furniture Companies

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of residential furniture and accessories in the United States. The company offers furniture merchandise under the Havertys brand name. It also provides custom upholstery products and eclectic looks; and mattress product lines under the Tempur-Pedic, Serta, Sealy, and Stearns and Foster names. The company sells home furnishings through its retail stores, as well as through its website. Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.