Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS – Get Free Report) and Manchester United (NYSE:MANU – Get Free Report) 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 analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.
Volatility and Risk
Madison Square Garden has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manchester United has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
68.9% of Madison Square Garden shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.3% of Manchester United shares are held by institutional investors. 19.1% of Madison Square Garden shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 68.6% of Manchester United shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Madison Square Garden | $1.04 billion | 7.69 | -$22.44 million | ($0.69) | -481.12 |
| Manchester United | $862.42 million | 3.39 | -$42.74 million | ($0.07) | -242.36 |
Madison Square Garden has higher revenue and earnings than Manchester United. Madison Square Garden is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Manchester United, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Madison Square Garden and Manchester United, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Madison Square Garden | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Manchester United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Madison Square Garden currently has a consensus target price of $333.80, indicating a potential upside of 0.55%. Given Madison Square Garden’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Madison Square Garden is more favorable than Manchester United.
Profitability
This table compares Madison Square Garden and Manchester United’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Madison Square Garden | -1.55% | N/A | -1.10% |
| Manchester United | -1.39% | -4.85% | -0.56% |
Summary
Madison Square Garden beats Manchester United on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. operates as a professional sports company in the United States. The company owns and operates a portfolio of assets that consists of the New York Knickerbockers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. Its other professional franchises include development league teams, the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League. The company also owns Knicks Gaming, an esports franchise that competes in the NBA 2K League. In addition, it operates professional sports team performance centers, the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Greenburgh. The company was formerly known as The Madison Square Garden Company. Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in New York, New York.
About Manchester United
Manchester United plc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a professional sports team in the United Kingdom. It operates Manchester United Football Club, a professional football club. The company develops marketing and sponsorship relationships with international and regional companies to leverage its brand. It also markets and sells sports apparel, training and leisure wear, and other clothing; and other licensed products, such as coffee mugs and bed spreads featuring the Manchester United brand and trademarks, as well as distributes these products through Manchester United branded retail centers and e-commerce platforms, and through the company’s partners’ wholesale distribution channels. In addition, the company distributes live football content directly, as well as through commercial partners; broadcasts television rights relating to the Premier League, Union of European Football Associations club competitions, and other competitions; and delivers Manchester United programming through MUTV television channel to territories worldwide. Further, it operates Old Trafford, a sports venue with 74,240 seats, as well as invests in properties. The company was formerly known as Manchester United Ltd. changed its name to Manchester United plc in August 2012. Manchester United plc was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Manchester, the United Kingdom.
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