Head-To-Head Contrast: Ceconomy (OTCMKTS:MTTRY) & Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED)

Barnes & Noble Education (NYSE:BNED) and Ceconomy (OTCMKTS:MTTRY) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Barnes & Noble Education and Ceconomy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barnes & Noble Education	1	0	0	0	1.00
Ceconomy	0	0	0	1	4.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

38.5% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Barnes & Noble Education shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Barnes & Noble Education and Ceconomy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barnes & Noble Education	-0.56%	-22.09%	-6.22%
Ceconomy	0.71%	46.82%	2.53%

Risk and Volatility

Barnes & Noble Education has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ceconomy has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Barnes & Noble Education and Ceconomy”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	$1.68 billion	0.17	-$65.82 million	($0.28)	-29.63
Ceconomy	$25.51 billion	0.09	-$38.73 million	$0.08	11.81

Ceconomy has higher revenue and earnings than Barnes & Noble Education. Barnes & Noble Education is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ceconomy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Ceconomy beats Barnes & Noble Education on 9 of the 13 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 Ceconomy

Ceconomy AG, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the consumer electronics retail business. It operates stores under the MediaMarkt and Saturn brands. The company offers professional assistance for the installation, connection, and troubleshooting of electronic devices at home under the Deutsche Technikberatung brand. It operates in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Hungary, as well as in Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe. Ceconomy AG is based in Düsseldorf, Germany.