Company Overview
Shoe Carnival, Inc. operates as a family footwear retailer within the United States market, offering a comprehensive assortment of dress, casual, sandals, boots, and athletic shoes for men, women, and children, alongside non-athletic options and accessories. The company functions within the Consumer Cyclical sector and the Apparel Retail industry, positions that categorize its performance alongside other discretionary spending goods that are sensitive to consumer confidence and economic cycles. As a significant entity in its niche, the company maintains a market capitalization of $440.06M and generates annual revenue totaling $1.14B, supported by an operational workforce of 2,300 employees. These valuation and revenue figures indicate that Shoe Carnival holds a substantial footprint in the apparel retail landscape, suggesting it commands enough market presence to warrant specific attention from analysts tracking the footwear distribution channel, while its employee count reflects the labor-intensive nature of physical retail operations.
Financial Health
The company reported a trailing twelve-month revenue of $1.14B and a net income of $52.27M, with an EBITDA of $98.31M, revealing a distinct gap between top-line sales and bottom-line profit that highlights a significant cost structure including cost of goods sold, operating expenses, and taxes. Free cash flow stands at $9.01M, a figure that underscores the company's current financial flexibility is constrained, as the low cash generation relative to EBITDA suggests substantial capital requirements for working capital or operational maintenance. Profitability efficiency is detailed through three specific margins: a gross margin of 36.6% indicating the percentage of revenue remaining after direct costs, an operating margin of 4.3% showing operational efficiency before interest and taxes, and a profit margin of 4.6% representing the final return to shareholders after all expenses. Liquidity and leverage are defined by a cash position of $130.73M against total debt of $371.42M, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.86% which implies a leveraged balance sheet where debt obligations exceed equity capital. Short-term solvency is supported by a current ratio of 3.76, indicating the company holds sufficient current assets to cover its short-term liabilities with a comfortable cushion. Management effectiveness is further quantified by a return on equity of 7.8% and a return on assets of 3.6%, metrics that reveal the company generates moderate returns on shareholder capital and its total asset base, respectively.
Valuation Assessment
Valuation multiples for Shoe Carnival, Inc. include a trailing P/E ratio of 8.43 and a forward P/E of 9.13, where the difference between these figures implies that the market expects earnings to recover slightly or stabilize in the coming period, as the forward multiple is marginally higher than the trailing multiple. The price-to-book ratio is recorded at 0.64, indicating that the stock trades at a significant discount to its book value, suggesting the market prices the company below the net asset value of its equity. Alternative valuation metrics such as a price-to-sales ratio of 0.39 and an EV/EBITDA of 6.92 provide additional context, suggesting the company is valued on a conservative basis relative to its sales volume and enterprise earnings. Price volatility is bounded by a 52-week high of $26.57 and a 52-week low of $15.21, with the current trading price situated within this range, reflecting recent market fluctuations and investor sentiment regarding the retail sector. Risk sensitivity is captured by a beta of 1.27, which indicates that the stock price is more volatile than the broader market, moving with greater intensity during periods of market stress or rally.
Growth & Income
Growth metrics show a revenue growth of -3.4% year-over-year and an earnings growth of -37.9% year-over-year, illustrating that earnings are contracting at a much faster rate than revenue, which implies increasing pressure on margins or a decline in profitability per unit sold. As a dividend payer, the company offers a dividend yield of 3.9% with a payout ratio of 31.6%, indicating that the dividend is supported by earnings as the payout ratio is well below 100%, though the negative earnings growth presents a challenge to the sustainability of this income stream over the long term. The combination of shrinking revenue and significantly depressed earnings growth defines the company's current profile, while the maintained dividend yield provides a fixed-income characteristic that contrasts with the underlying operational contraction.