Financial Analysis: Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) & H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT)

H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) and Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

46.4% of H World Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.7% of Six Flags Entertainment shares are owned by institutional investors. 49.4% of H World Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Six Flags Entertainment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

H World Group has a beta of 0.12, meaning that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Six Flags Entertainment has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares H World Group and Six Flags Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H World Group	18.90%	41.05%	8.07%
Six Flags Entertainment	-57.25%	7.43%	0.38%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for H World Group and Six Flags Entertainment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H World Group	0	1	3	0	2.75
Six Flags Entertainment	2	7	7	0	2.31

H World Group currently has a consensus target price of $61.20, indicating a potential upside of 19.91%. Six Flags Entertainment has a consensus target price of $15.85, indicating a potential upside of 58.02%. Given Six Flags Entertainment’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Six Flags Entertainment is more favorable than H World Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares H World Group and Six Flags Entertainment”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
H World Group	$3.62 billion	4.45	$726.00 million	$2.27	22.48
Six Flags Entertainment	$3.10 billion	0.33	-$1.60 billion	($17.32)	-0.58

H World Group has higher revenue and earnings than Six Flags Entertainment. Six Flags Entertainment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than H World Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

H World Group beats Six Flags Entertainment on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About H World Group

H World Group Limited develops leased and owned, manachised, and franchised hotels in the People's Republic of China. The company operates hotels under its own brands, such as HanTing Hotel, Ni Hao Hotel, Hi Inn, Elan Hotel, Zleep Hotels, Ibis Hotel, JI Hotel, Orange Hotel, Starway Hotel, Ibis Styles Hotel, CitiGO Hotel, Crystal Orange Hotel, IntercityHotel, Manxin Hotel, Mercure Hotel, Madison Hotel, Novotel Hotel, Joya Hotel, Blossom House, Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, MAXX by Steigenberger, Jaz in the City, Grand Mercure, Steigenberger Icon, and Song Hotels. The company was formerly known as Huazhu Group Limited and changed its name to H World Group Limited in June 2022. H World Group Limited was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.

About Six Flags Entertainment

Cedar Fair, L.P. owns and operates amusement and water parks, as well as complementary resort facilities. Its amusement parks include Cedar Point located on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo in Sandusky, Ohio; Knott's Berry Farm near Los Angeles, California; Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Ontario; Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio; Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina; Kings Dominion situated near Richmond, Virginia; California's Great America located in Santa Clara, California; Dorney Park in Pennsylvania; Worlds of Fun located in Kansas City, Missouri; Valleyfair situated near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Michigan's Adventure situated near Muskegon, Michigan; Schlitterbahn Waterpark & Resort New Braunfels in New Braunfels, Texas; and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston in Galveston, Texas. The company also owns and operates the Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark Resort, Hotel Breakers, Cedar Point's Express Hotel, and Sawmill Creek Resort. Cedar Fair, L.P. was founded in 1983 and is based in Sandusky, Ohio.