Financial Contrast: Compass Group (OTCMKTS:CMPGY) vs. Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Compass Group (OTCMKTS:CMPGY) and Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Compass Group and Papa John’s International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Compass Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Papa John’s International	1.44%	-11.16%	5.38%

Risk and Volatility

Compass Group has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Papa John’s International has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Compass Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Compass Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Papa John’s International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Compass Group and Papa John’s International”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Compass Group	$46.07 billion	1.00	$1.87 billion	N/A	N/A
Papa John’s International	$2.05 billion	0.59	$30.53 million	$0.89	41.51

Compass Group has higher revenue and earnings than Papa John’s International.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Compass Group and Papa John’s International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Compass Group	0	0	2	2	3.50
Papa John’s International	0	7	3	0	2.30

Papa John’s International has a consensus target price of $45.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.82%. Given Papa John’s International’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Papa John’s International is more favorable than Compass Group.

Dividends

Compass Group pays an annual dividend of $0.83 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Papa John’s International pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Papa John’s International pays out 206.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Papa John’s International has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Papa John’s International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

About Compass Group

Compass Group PLC operates as a food and support services company in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers support services, such as cleaning in hospitals; reception services at corporate headquarters; managing remote camps; grounds and facilities services at schools and universities; and others. It serves business and industry; healthcare and senior living market; education; sports and leisure; and defense, offshore, and remote sectors. Compass Group PLC was founded in 1941 and is based in Chertsey, the United Kingdom.

About Papa John’s International

Papa John’s International, Inc. engages in the operation and franchise of pizza delivery and carryout restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Domestic Company-owned Restaurants, North America Franchising, North America Commissaries, International Operations, and All Others. The Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants segment consists of retail sales of pizza and side items, breadsticks, cheese sticks, chicken poppers and wings, dessert items, and canned and bottled beverages. The North America Franchising segment involves the offering of sales and support activities, development rights, and collection of royalties from franchisees located in the United States and Canada. The North America Commissaries segment includes the eleven full-service regional dough production and distribution and quality control centers. The International Operations segment represents all restaurant operations outside of the United States and Canada. The All Others segment focuses on franchise contributions to marketing funds and sale, company-owned and franchised restaurants, information systems and related services used in restaurant operations, point-of-sale system, online and other technology-based ordering platforms, printing, and promotional items. The company was founded by John H. Schnatter in 1984 and is headquartered in Louisville, KY.