Financial Contrast: Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) versus Valvoline (NYSE:VVV)

Haverty Furniture Companies (NYSE:HVT) and Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Haverty Furniture Companies has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valvoline has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Haverty Furniture Companies and Valvoline”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Haverty Furniture Companies	$780.39 million	0.55	$19.73 million	$1.36	20.40
Valvoline	$1.71 billion	2.36	$210.70 million	$0.80	39.52

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Haverty Furniture Companies and Valvoline, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Haverty Furniture Companies	0	2	0	0	2.00
Valvoline	0	5	12	0	2.71

Valvoline has a consensus price target of $42.88, indicating a potential upside of 35.62%. Given Valvoline’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Valvoline is more favorable than Haverty Furniture Companies.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Haverty Furniture Companies	2.93%	7.15%	3.34%
Valvoline	5.17%	65.12%	7.11%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.6% of Haverty Furniture Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Valvoline shares are held by institutional investors. 8.4% of Haverty Furniture Companies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Valvoline shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Valvoline beats Haverty Furniture Companies on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Valvoline

Valvoline Inc. engages in the operation and franchising of vehicle service centers and retail stores in the United States and Canada. The company, through its service centers, provides fluid exchange for motor oil, transmission and differential fluid, and coolant; parts replacement for batteries, filters, wiper blades, and belts; and safety services, such as tire inflation and rotation, bulbs, and safety checks. It offers its services for passenger cars, hybrid and battery electric vehicles, and light and medium duty vehicles. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky.