Head to Head Contrast: Latitude 360 (OTCMKTS:LATX) vs. BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI)

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) and Latitude 360 (OTCMKTS:LATX) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

100.0% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.5% of Latitude 360 shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for BJ’s Restaurants and Latitude 360, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BJ’s Restaurants	2	6	2	0	2.00
Latitude 360	0	0	0	0	0.00

BJ’s Restaurants currently has a consensus price target of $41.88, suggesting a potential upside of 9.71%. Given BJ’s Restaurants’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe BJ’s Restaurants is more favorable than Latitude 360.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares BJ’s Restaurants and Latitude 360″s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BJ’s Restaurants	$1.40 billion	0.57	$48.81 million	$2.15	17.75
Latitude 360	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

BJ’s Restaurants has higher revenue and earnings than Latitude 360.

Profitability

This table compares BJ’s Restaurants and Latitude 360’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BJ’s Restaurants	3.49%	13.82%	5.01%
Latitude 360	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

BJ’s Restaurants beats Latitude 360 on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. owns and operates casual dining restaurants in the United States. Its restaurants offer pizzas, craft and other beers, appetizers, entrées, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads, and desserts under brand name Pizookie. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. and changed its name to BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. in August 2004. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is based in Huntington Beach, California.

About Latitude 360

Latitude 360, Inc. operates as a casual dining restaurant/entertainment company in the United States. The company plans, develops, constructs, and operates restaurant/entertainment venues. Its restaurant/entertainment venues feature a grille and bar; luxury bowling lanes; a dine-in movie theater with home theater-style seating; game room; a dine-in live performance theater; a HD sports theater; a bar with a dance floor and stage for the DJs and regional bands every weekend; and a luxury boutique cigar lounge. The company operates three restaurant/entertainment venues in Jacksonville, Florida, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Indianapolis, Indiana. Its restaurant/entertainment venues serve consumers and corporate clients. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. On January 10, 2017, an involuntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 was filed against Latitude 360, Inc. in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. On February 7, 2017, the involuntary petition was approved by the Court.