Reviewing Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) & Carnival (NYSE:CCL)

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) and Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.2% of Carnival shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.7% of Six Flags Entertainment shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of Carnival shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Six Flags Entertainment shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Carnival and Six Flags Entertainment”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carnival	$26.62 billion	1.49	$2.76 billion	$2.00	15.98
Six Flags Entertainment	$3.10 billion	0.60	-$231.16 million	($17.72)	-1.03

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Carnival and Six Flags Entertainment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carnival	0	8	19	1	2.75
Six Flags Entertainment	2	5	8	0	2.40

Carnival currently has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.49%. Six Flags Entertainment has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 48.05%. Given Six Flags Entertainment’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Six Flags Entertainment is more favorable than Carnival.

Risk & Volatility

Carnival has a beta of 2.49, suggesting that its share price is 149% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Six Flags Entertainment has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Carnival and Six Flags Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carnival	10.37%	28.39%	6.09%
Six Flags Entertainment	-51.58%	3.77%	0.52%

Summary

Carnival beats Six Flags Entertainment on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carnival

Carnival Corp. engages in the operation of cruise ships. It operates through the following business segments: North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise, Europe and Asia (EA) Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Others. The North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise segment includes the Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn. The Europe and Asia (EA) Cruise Operations segment consists of AIDA, Costa, Cunard, and P&O Cruises (UK). The Cruise Support segment represents port destinations and private islands for the benefit of its cruise brands. The Tour and Other segment operates hotel and transportation operations of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Miami, FL.

About Six Flags Entertainment

Cedar Fair, L.P. owns and operates amusement and water parks, as well as complementary resort facilities. Its amusement parks include Cedar Point located on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo in Sandusky, Ohio; Knott's Berry Farm near Los Angeles, California; Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Ontario; Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio; Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina; Kings Dominion situated near Richmond, Virginia; California's Great America located in Santa Clara, California; Dorney Park in Pennsylvania; Worlds of Fun located in Kansas City, Missouri; Valleyfair situated near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Michigan's Adventure situated near Muskegon, Michigan; Schlitterbahn Waterpark & Resort New Braunfels in New Braunfels, Texas; and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston in Galveston, Texas. The company also owns and operates the Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark Resort, Hotel Breakers, Cedar Point's Express Hotel, and Sawmill Creek Resort. Cedar Fair, L.P. was founded in 1983 and is based in Sandusky, Ohio.