Head to Head Analysis: United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) vs. Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) and United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Yum! Brands and United Parks & Resorts”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Yum! Brands	$8.21 billion	4.64	$1.56 billion	$7.95	17.55
United Parks & Resorts	$1.66 billion	0.92	$168.35 million	$2.54	13.22

Yum! Brands has higher revenue and earnings than United Parks & Resorts. United Parks & Resorts is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Yum! Brands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Yum! Brands and United Parks & Resorts, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Yum! Brands	1	6	14	0	2.62
United Parks & Resorts	1	9	4	0	2.21

Yum! Brands currently has a consensus target price of $174.67, suggesting a potential upside of 25.18%. United Parks & Resorts has a consensus target price of $46.90, suggesting a potential upside of 39.69%. Given United Parks & Resorts’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe United Parks & Resorts is more favorable than Yum! Brands.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.4% of Yum! Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Yum! Brands shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of United Parks & Resorts shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Yum! Brands and United Parks & Resorts’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Yum! Brands	25.42%	-24.57%	22.24%
United Parks & Resorts	8.11%	-27.85%	5.04%

Risk & Volatility

Yum! Brands has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Parks & Resorts has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Yum! Brands beats United Parks & Resorts on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products. The company was formerly known as TRICON Global Restaurants, Inc. and changed its name to Yum! Brands, Inc. in May 2002. Yum! Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

About United Parks & Resorts

United Parks & Resorts, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the ownership and operation of theme parks. Its portfolio includes SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, Sesame Place, and Sea Rescue. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Orlando, FL.