Head to Head Analysis: Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT) & Brunswick (NYSE:BC)

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) and Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Brunswick and Johnson Outdoors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brunswick	1	9	7	1	2.44
Johnson Outdoors	1	1	0	0	1.50

Brunswick presently has a consensus target price of $73.57, suggesting a potential downside of 1.91%. Given Brunswick’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Brunswick is more favorable than Johnson Outdoors.

Profitability

This table compares Brunswick and Johnson Outdoors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brunswick	-4.60%	10.55%	3.39%
Johnson Outdoors	-5.79%	-1.92%	-1.36%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Brunswick and Johnson Outdoors”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brunswick	$5.24 billion	0.93	$130.10 million	($3.64)	-20.60
Johnson Outdoors	$592.41 million	0.77	-$34.29 million	($3.35)	-13.00

Brunswick has higher revenue and earnings than Johnson Outdoors. Brunswick is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Johnson Outdoors, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Brunswick pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Johnson Outdoors pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Brunswick pays out -47.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Johnson Outdoors pays out -39.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Brunswick has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Johnson Outdoors has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.3% of Brunswick shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.1% of Johnson Outdoors shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Brunswick shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 28.0% of Johnson Outdoors shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Brunswick has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Johnson Outdoors has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Brunswick beats Johnson Outdoors on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brunswick

Brunswick Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets recreation products in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Propulsion, Engine P&A, Navico Group, and Boat. The Propulsion segment provides outboard, sterndrive, inboard engines, propulsion-related controls, rigging, and propellers for boat builders through marine retail dealers under the Mercury, Mercury MerCruiser, Mariner, Mercury Racing, Mercury Diesel, Avator, and Fliteboard brands. The Engine P&A segment offers engine parts and consumables, electrical products, boat parts and systems, and engine oils and lubricants through aftermarket retailers, dealers, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers for marine and non-marine markets under the Mercury, Mercury Precision Parts, Quicksilver, and Seachoice brands; and distributes marine parts and accessories. The Navico Group segment provides products and systems for the marine, recreational vehicle (RV), specialty vehicle, mobile, and industrial markets, as well as aftermarket channels; and marine electronics, sensors, control systems, instruments, power systems, and general accessories under the Ancor, Attwood, B&G, BEP, Blue Sea Systems, C-MAP, CZone, Lenco, Lowrance, Marinco, Mastervolt, MotorGuide, Progressive Industries, ProMariner, RELiON, Simrad, and Whale brand names. The Boat segment offers Sea Ray sport boats and cruisers; Bayliner sport cruisers, runabouts, and Heyday wake boats; Boston Whaler fiberglass offshore boats; Lund fiberglass fishing boats; Crestliner, Harris, Lowe, Lund, Princecraft aluminum fishing, utility, pontoon, and deck boats; Thunder Jet heavy-gauge aluminum boats; Veer recreational and fishing boats; and the freedom boat club, dealer services, and technology to the marine industry through dealers and distributors. Brunswick Corporation was founded in 1845 and is headquartered in Mettawa, Illinois.

About Johnson Outdoors

Johnson Outdoors Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets seasonal and outdoor recreational products for fishing worldwide. It operates through four segments: Fishing, Camping, Watercraft Recreation, and Diving. The Fishing segment offers electric motors for trolling, marine battery chargers, and shallow water anchors; sonar and GPS equipment for fish finding, navigation, and marine cartography; and downriggers for controlled-depth fishing. This segment sells its products under the Minn Kota, Humminbird, and Cannon brands through outdoor specialty and Internet retailers, retail store chains, original equipment manufacturers, and distributors. The Camping segment provides consumer, commercial, and military tents and accessories; camping stoves; other recreational camping products; and portable outdoor cooking systems. This segment sells its products under the Eureka! and Jetboil brands through specialty stores, sporting goods stores, internet retailers, and direct to consumers. The Watercraft Recreation segment offers kayaks, canoes, and paddles for family recreation, touring, angling, and tripping through independent specialty and outdoor retailers under Old Town and Carlisle brands. The Diving segment manufactures and markets underwater diving and snorkeling equipment, such as regulators, buoyancy compensators, dive computers and gauges, wetsuits, masks, fins, snorkels, and accessories through independent specialty dive stores and diving magazines under the SCUBAPRO brand name. This segment also provides regular maintenance, product repair, diving education, and travel program services; and sells diving gear to dive training centers, resorts, and public safety units. It sells its products through websites. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin.