Carnival (NYSE:CUK) versus Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) Head to Head Analysis

Carnival (NYSE:CUK) and Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Carnival and Planet Fitness, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carnival	0	1	0	0	2.00
Planet Fitness	0	3	10	2	2.93

Planet Fitness has a consensus price target of $119.67, suggesting a potential upside of 12.07%. Given Planet Fitness’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Planet Fitness is more favorable than Carnival.

Profitability

This table compares Carnival and Planet Fitness’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carnival	10.37%	28.39%	6.09%
Planet Fitness	15.97%	-126.58%	8.08%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

23.8% of Carnival shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Planet Fitness shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Carnival shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Planet Fitness shares are held 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Carnival and Planet Fitness”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carnival	$26.62 billion	0.23	$2.76 billion	$2.00	15.93
Planet Fitness	$1.18 billion	7.53	$172.04 million	$2.45	43.58

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

Risk and Volatility

Carnival has a beta of 2.54, indicating that its share price is 154% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Planet Fitness has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Planet Fitness beats Carnival on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carnival

Carnival Plc operates as a global cruise and vacation company. The firm offers holiday and vacation products to a customer base that is broadly varied in terms of cultures, languages and leisure-time preferences. It operates through the North America and Australia (NAA), Europe and Asia (EA), Cruise Support, and Tour and Other segments. The NAA segment includes Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, P and O Cruises (Australia), Princess and Seabourn. The EA segment includes AIDA, Costa, Cunard, and P and O Cruises (UK). The Cruise Support segment includes a portfolio of port destinations and other services, all of which are operated for the benefit of cruise brands. The Tour and Other segment represents the hotel and transportation operations of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours and other operations. The company was founded on July 19, 2000 and is headquartered in Southampton, the United Kingdom.

About Planet Fitness

Planet Fitness, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates fitness centers under the Planet Fitness brand. The company operates through three segments: Franchise, Corporate-Owned Stores, and Equipment. The company is involved in franchising business in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, Mexico, and Australia. It engages in the sale of fitness equipment to franchisee-owned stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In addition, the company operates corporate-owned stores in the United States and Canada. Planet Fitness, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire.