Analyzing Tile Shop (NASDAQ:TTSH) & Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM)

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) and Tile Shop (NASDAQ:TTSH) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.8% of Williams-Sonoma shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.1% of Tile Shop shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Williams-Sonoma shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 36.5% of Tile Shop shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Williams-Sonoma has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tile Shop has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Williams-Sonoma and Tile Shop, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Williams-Sonoma	6	7	5	0	1.94
Tile Shop	0	0	0	0	N/A

Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus price target of $139.94, indicating a potential downside of 2.58%. Given Williams-Sonoma’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Williams-Sonoma is more favorable than Tile Shop.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Williams-Sonoma and Tile Shop’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Williams-Sonoma	$8.67 billion	1.06	$1.13 billion	$14.47	9.93
Tile Shop	$385.20 million	0.61	$15.70 million	$0.29	18.03

Williams-Sonoma has higher revenue and earnings than Tile Shop. Williams-Sonoma is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tile Shop, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Williams-Sonoma and Tile Shop’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Williams-Sonoma	11.68%	64.43%	21.84%
Tile Shop	3.34%	11.23%	3.77%

Summary

Williams-Sonoma beats Tile Shop on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; and women's and men's accessories, travel, entertaining and bar, home décor, and seasonal items under the Mark and Graham brand, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and décor industry. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Tile Shop

Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of natural stone and man-made tiles, setting and maintenance materials, and related accessories in the United States. It offers natural stone products, such as marble, travertine, granite, quartz, sandstone, slate, and onyx tiles; and man-made products, including ceramic, porcelain, glass, cement, wood look, and metal and luxury vinyl tiles primarily under the Rush River and Fired Earth brands. The company also manufactures setting and maintenance materials, such as thinset, grout, and sealers under the Superior brand name; accessories, including installation tools, shower and bath shelves, drains, and related products; and offers customers delivery service through third-party freight providers. Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota.