Contrasting RCI Hospitality (NASDAQ:RICK) and Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality (NYSE:PRSU)

RCI Hospitality (NASDAQ:RICK) and Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality (NYSE:PRSU) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares RCI Hospitality and Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RCI Hospitality	$279.43 million	0.75	$10.81 million	($0.78)	-35.21
Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality	$452.42 million	2.92	$22.67 million	$0.99	48.89

Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality has higher revenue and earnings than RCI Hospitality. RCI Hospitality is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for RCI Hospitality and Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RCI Hospitality	1	0	0	0	1.00
Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality	0	1	2	1	3.00

Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality has a consensus target price of $47.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.90%. Given Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality is more favorable than RCI Hospitality.

Volatility and Risk

RCI Hospitality has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

53.8% of RCI Hospitality shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.9% of Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.6% of RCI Hospitality shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality 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.

Profitability

This table compares RCI Hospitality and Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RCI Hospitality	-2.31%	-2.61%	-1.10%
Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality	6.19%	5.30%	3.54%

Summary

Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality beats RCI Hospitality on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RCI Hospitality

RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the hospitality and related businesses in the United States. It operates in Nightclubs, Bombshells, and Media Group segments. The company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries own and/or operates upscale adult nightclubs serving primarily businessmen and professionals under the Rick's Cabaret, Jaguars Club, Tootsie's Cabaret, XTC Cabaret, Club Onyx, Hoops Cabaret and Sports Bar, Scarlett's Cabaret, Temptations Adult Cabaret, Foxy's Cabaret, Vivid Cabaret, Downtown Cabaret, Cabaret East, The Seville, Silver City Cabaret, and Kappa Men's Club. Wholly-owned subsidiaries also operate restaurants and sports bars under the Bombshells Restaurant & Bar brand; and dance clubs under the Studio 80 brand. As of February 11, 2019, the company operated 46 units, including 39 nightclub units and 7 Bombshell units. In addition, it owns two national industry trade publications serving the adult nightclubs industry and the adult retail products industry; a national industry convention and tradeshow; and two national industry award shows, as well as approximately a dozen industry and social media Websites. The company founded in 1983 as Rick's Cabaret International, Inc., changed its name to RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. in August 2014, and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality

Pursuit Attractions & Hospitality, Inc. engages in the provision of hospitality and leisure activities, experiential marketing, and live events. It operates through the following segments: Pursuit, Spiro, and GES Exhibitions. The Pursuit segment provides travel experiences that include recreational attractions, unique hotels and lodges, food and beverage, retail, sightseeing, and ground transportation services. The Spiro segment is an experiential marketing agency that partners with brands around the world to manage and elevate their global experiential marketing activities. The GES Exhibitions segment is a global exhibition services company that partners with exhibition and conference organizers as a full-service provider of strategic and logistics solutions to manage the complexity of their shows. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.