Financial Survey: Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) and Marcus (NYSE:MCS)

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) and Marcus (NYSE:MCS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Madison Square Garden and Marcus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Madison Square Garden	-2.16%	-1.76%	-1.56%
Marcus	1.91%	4.28%	1.88%

Risk and Volatility

Madison Square Garden has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marcus has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

68.9% of Madison Square Garden shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.6% of Marcus shares are held by institutional investors. 22.1% of Madison Square Garden shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.8% of Marcus shares are held 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 Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Madison Square Garden and Marcus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Madison Square Garden	0	1	5	0	2.83
Marcus	0	1	3	1	3.00

Madison Square Garden currently has a consensus target price of $258.83, suggesting a potential upside of 13.96%. Marcus has a consensus target price of $24.50, suggesting a potential upside of 57.96%. Given Marcus’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Marcus is more favorable than Madison Square Garden.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Madison Square Garden and Marcus”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Madison Square Garden	$1.04 billion	5.25	-$22.44 million	($0.92)	-246.88
Marcus	$735.56 million	0.66	-$7.79 million	$0.45	34.47

Marcus has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Madison Square Garden. Madison Square Garden is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marcus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Marcus beats Madison Square Garden on 11 of the 15 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 Marcus

The Marcus Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates movie theatres, and hotels and resorts in the United States. It operates a family entertainment center and multiscreen motion picture theatres under the Big Screen Bistro, Big Screen Bistro Express, BistroPlex, and Movie Tavern by Marcus brand names. The company also owns and operates full-service hotels and resorts, as well as manages full-service hotels, resorts, and other properties. In addition, it provides hospitality management services, including check-in, housekeeping, and maintenance for a vacation ownership development; and manages condominium hotels under long-term management contracts. The Marcus Corporation was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.