Head-To-Head Review: Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) vs. Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI)

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) and Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

62.4% of Monarch Casino & Resort shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.7% of Golden Entertainment shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.5% of Monarch Casino & Resort shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 30.5% of Golden Entertainment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Monarch Casino & Resort has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golden Entertainment has a beta of 1.52, meaning that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Monarch Casino & Resort and Golden Entertainment”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Monarch Casino & Resort	$522.19 million	3.48	$72.77 million	$5.54	17.98
Golden Entertainment	$666.82 million	1.09	$50.73 million	$0.18	153.61

Monarch Casino & Resort has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Golden Entertainment. Monarch Casino & Resort is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Golden Entertainment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Monarch Casino & Resort and Golden Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Monarch Casino & Resort	19.26%	19.33%	14.67%
Golden Entertainment	0.85%	1.20%	0.52%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Monarch Casino & Resort and Golden Entertainment, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Monarch Casino & Resort	0	5	2	0	2.29
Golden Entertainment	2	4	3	0	2.11

Monarch Casino & Resort currently has a consensus price target of $94.60, suggesting a potential downside of 5.04%. Golden Entertainment has a consensus price target of $32.60, suggesting a potential upside of 17.90%. Given Golden Entertainment’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Golden Entertainment is more favorable than Monarch Casino & Resort.

Dividends

Monarch Casino & Resort pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Golden Entertainment pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Monarch Casino & Resort pays out 21.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Golden Entertainment pays out 555.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

About Monarch Casino & Resort

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. engages in the ownership and operation of the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, a hotel and casino facility in Reno, Nevada, and the Monarch Black Hawk Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.

About Golden Entertainment

Golden Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates a diversified entertainment platform in the United States. The company operates through four segments; Nevada Casino Resorts, Nevada Locals Casinos, Nevada Taverns, and Distributed Gaming. It also operates casino, casino resorts, and taverns; and slot machines in third party non-casino locations. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.