Reviewing United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) and Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for United Parks & Resorts and Yum! Brands, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

United Parks & Resorts currently has a consensus target price of $46.90, suggesting a potential upside of 31.25%. Yum! Brands has a consensus target price of $174.67, suggesting a potential upside of 28.45%. Given United Parks & Resorts’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe United Parks & Resorts is more favorable than Yum! Brands.

Volatility and Risk

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

Profitability

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

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

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Parks & Resorts	$1.66 billion	0.97	$168.35 million	$2.54	14.07
Yum! Brands	$8.72 billion	4.25	$1.56 billion	$7.95	17.10

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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

82.4% of Yum! Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of United Parks & Resorts shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Yum! Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

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

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.

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.