Critical Contrast: MillerKnoll (MLKN) versus Its Rivals

MillerKnoll (NASDAQ:MLKN) is one of 17 publicly-traded companies in the “FURNITURE” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare MillerKnoll to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for MillerKnoll and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MillerKnoll	0	1	0	0	2.00
MillerKnoll Competitors	51	511	309	52	2.39

As a group, “FURNITURE” companies have a potential upside of 41.41%. Given MillerKnoll’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe MillerKnoll has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MillerKnoll and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
MillerKnoll	$3.63 billion	$82.30 million	41.24
MillerKnoll Competitors	$1.45 billion	-$1.07 million	5.29

MillerKnoll has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. MillerKnoll is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares MillerKnoll and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MillerKnoll	0.84%	10.79%	3.56%
MillerKnoll Competitors	-4.26%	-18.05%	-2.74%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.5% of MillerKnoll shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.4% of shares of all “FURNITURE” companies are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of MillerKnoll shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of shares of all “FURNITURE” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

MillerKnoll pays an annual dividend of $0.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. MillerKnoll pays out 178.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “FURNITURE” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 698.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. MillerKnoll is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

MillerKnoll has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MillerKnoll’s competitors have a beta of 0.95, indicating that their average share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

MillerKnoll beats its competitors on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About MillerKnoll

MillerKnoll, Inc. researches, designs, manufactures, and distributes interior furnishings worldwide. It operates through three segments: Americas Contract, International Contract & Specialty, and Global Retail. The company also provides seating products, furniture systems, other freestanding furniture elements, textiles, leather, felt, home furnishings and related services, casegoods, storage products, as well as residential, education, and healthcare furniture solutions. It offers its products under the MillerKnoll, Herman Miller, Herman Miller Circled Symbolic M, Knoll, Maharam, Geiger, Design Within Reach, DWR, HAY, NaughtOne, Nemschoff, Aeron, Mirra, Embody, Setu, Sayl, Cosm, Caper, Eames, Knoll, KnollExtra, Knoll Luxe, KnollStudio, KnollTextiles, Edelman Leather, Spinneybeck Leather, Generation by Knoll, Regeneration by Knoll, MultiGeneration by Knoll, Remix, Holly Hunt, Vladimir Kagan, Muuto, Barcelona, and Womb names. The company offers its products through independent contract furniture dealers, direct contract sales, e-commerce websites, and wholesale and retail stores. Its products are used in institutional, health/science, and residential and other environments, and industrial and educational settings, as well as transportation terminals. The company was formerly known as Herman Miller, Inc. and changed its name to MillerKnoll, Inc. in November 2021. MillerKnoll, Inc. was incorporated in 1905 and is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan.