Cedar Fair (NYSE:FUN – Get Free Report) and Manchester United (NYSE:MANU – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Cedar Fair and Manchester United’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Cedar Fair | 6.80% | -23.97% | 6.70% |
| Manchester United | -17.28% | -55.05% | -3.97% |
Risk & Volatility
Cedar Fair has a beta of 1.55, suggesting that its stock price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manchester United has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Cedar Fair | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2.73 |
| Manchester United | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Cedar Fair presently has a consensus target price of $57.91, suggesting a potential upside of 43.55%. Manchester United has a consensus target price of $18.50, suggesting a potential upside of 14.34%. Given Cedar Fair’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Cedar Fair is more favorable than Manchester United.
Dividends
Cedar Fair pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Manchester United pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Cedar Fair pays out 49.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Manchester United pays out -14.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
64.7% of Cedar Fair shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.3% of Manchester United shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Cedar Fair shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 68.6% of Manchester United shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Cedar Fair and Manchester United”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Cedar Fair | $1.82 billion | 1.14 | $124.56 million | $2.43 | 16.60 |
| Manchester United | $661.76 million | 4.03 | -$142.51 million | ($0.62) | -26.10 |
Cedar Fair has higher revenue and earnings than Manchester United. Manchester United is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cedar Fair, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Cedar Fair beats Manchester United on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Cedar Fair
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.
About Manchester United
Manchester United plc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a professional sports team in the United Kingdom. It operates Manchester United Football Club, a professional football club. The company develops marketing and sponsorship relationships with international and regional companies to leverage its brand. It also markets and sells sports apparel, training and leisure wear, and other clothing; and other licensed products, such as coffee mugs and bed spreads featuring the Manchester United brand and trademarks, as well as distributes these products through Manchester United branded retail centers and e-commerce platforms, and through the company’s partners’ wholesale distribution channels. In addition, the company distributes live football content directly, as well as through commercial partners; broadcasts television rights relating to the Premier League, Union of European Football Associations club competitions, and other competitions; and delivers Manchester United programming through MUTV television channel to territories worldwide. Further, it operates Old Trafford, a sports venue with 74,240 seats, as well as invests in properties. The company was formerly known as Manchester United Ltd. changed its name to Manchester United plc in August 2012. Manchester United plc was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Manchester, the United Kingdom.
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