Carnival (NYSE:CCL – Get Free Report) and Atour Lifestyle (NASDAQ:ATAT – Get Free Report) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
67.2% of Carnival shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.8% of Atour Lifestyle shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.9% of Carnival shares are owned 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.
Risk and Volatility
Carnival has a beta of 2.48, suggesting that its stock price is 148% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atour Lifestyle has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Carnival | 1 | 5 | 21 | 0 | 2.74 |
| Atour Lifestyle | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2.89 |
Carnival presently has a consensus price target of $33.99, indicating a potential upside of 24.98%. Atour Lifestyle has a consensus price target of $48.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.01%. Given Carnival’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Carnival is more favorable than Atour Lifestyle.
Profitability
This table compares Carnival and Atour Lifestyle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Carnival | 11.48% | 26.92% | 6.20% |
| Atour Lifestyle | 16.58% | 46.96% | 18.90% |
Dividends
Carnival pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Atour Lifestyle pays an annual dividend of $0.33 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Carnival pays out 26.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Atour Lifestyle pays out 20.4% 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.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Carnival and Atour Lifestyle”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Carnival | $26.62 billion | 1.27 | $2.76 billion | $2.25 | 12.09 |
| Atour Lifestyle | $9.79 billion | 0.55 | $231.80 million | $1.62 | 24.09 |
Carnival has higher revenue and earnings than Atour Lifestyle. Carnival is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atour Lifestyle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Carnival beats Atour Lifestyle on 10 of the 16 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 Atour Lifestyle
Atour Lifestyle Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, develops lifestyle brands around hotel offerings in the People’s Republic of China. The company provides hotel management services, including day-to-day management services of the hotels for the franchisees; and sells hotel supplies and other products. It also offers retail management service; investment management service; financial information service management; property management services; and software and technology services, as well as operates travel agency. Atour Lifestyle Holdings Limited was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Shanghai, China.
Receive News & Ratings for Carnival Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Carnival and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
