Marks and Spencer Group (MKS) Competitors

Laura Ashley (LON:ALY) and Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, community ranking and valuation.

Is ALY or MKS more profitable?

Marks and Spencer Group has a net margin of 3.23% compared to Marks and Spencer Group's net margin of 0.00%. Laura Ashley's return on equity of 13.81% beat Marks and Spencer Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Laura Ashley	N/A	N/A	N/A
Marks and Spencer Group	3.23%	13.81%	5.65%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, ALY or MKS?

Marks and Spencer Group has higher revenue and earnings than Laura Ashley. Laura Ashley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marks and Spencer Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Laura Ashley	£219.20M	0.01	N/A	-£2.30	-0.17
Marks and Spencer Group	£12.53B	0.49	£405.30M	£0.21	1,438.10

Do analysts rate ALY or MKS?

Marks and Spencer Group has a consensus target price of GBX 322.50, suggesting a potential upside of 6.79%. Given Laura Ashley's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Marks and Spencer Group is more favorable than Laura Ashley.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Laura Ashley	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A
Marks and Spencer Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ALY or MKS?

51.2% of Marks and Spencer Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Marks and Spencer Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor ALY or MKS?

In the previous week, Marks and Spencer Group had 7 more articles in the media than Laura Ashley. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Marks and Spencer Group and 3 mentions for Laura Ashley. Laura Ashley's average media sentiment score of 0.43 beat Marks and Spencer Group's score of 0.05 indicating that Marks and Spencer Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Laura Ashley	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Marks and Spencer Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ALY or MKS?

Marks and Spencer Group received 952 more outperform votes than Laura Ashley when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 66.10% of users gave Laura Ashley an outperform vote while only 56.29% of users gave Marks and Spencer Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Laura Ashley	Outperform Votes 117 66.10%	Underperform Votes 60 33.90%
Marks and Spencer Group	Outperform Votes 1069 56.29%	Underperform Votes 830 43.71%

Summary

Marks and Spencer Group beats Laura Ashley on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.