Contrasting Brunswick (NYSE:BC) & Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT)

Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) and Brunswick (NYSE:BC) 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Mattel and Brunswick”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mattel	$5.35 billion	0.85	$397.58 million	$1.36	11.71
Brunswick	$5.36 billion	0.78	-$137.30 million	($1.31)	-49.56

Mattel has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Brunswick. Brunswick is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mattel, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Mattel has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brunswick has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.2% of Mattel shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of Brunswick shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Mattel shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Brunswick shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Mattel and Brunswick’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mattel	7.79%	16.20%	5.37%
Brunswick	-1.53%	15.28%	4.60%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Mattel and Brunswick, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mattel	3	5	5	1	2.29
Brunswick	1	6	6	1	2.50

Mattel presently has a consensus target price of $17.80, suggesting a potential upside of 11.74%. Brunswick has a consensus target price of $88.00, suggesting a potential upside of 35.53%. Given Brunswick’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Brunswick is more favorable than Mattel.

Summary

Mattel beats Brunswick on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mattel

Mattel, Inc., a toy and family entertainment company, designs, manufactures, and markets toys and consumer products in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through North America, International, and American Girl segments. It offers dolls and accessories, as well as books, content, gaming, and lifestyle products for children under the Barbie, American Girl, Disney Princess and Disney Frozen, Monster High, and Polly Pocket brands; die-cast vehicles, tracks, playsets, and accessories for kids, adults, and collectors under the Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks, Hot Wheels Mario Kart, Matchbox, and Cars brand names; and infant, toddler, and preschool products comprising content, toys, live events, and other consumer products under the Fisher-Price, Little People and Imaginext, and Thomas & Friends, and Power wheels brands. The company also provides action figures, building sets, games, and other products under the Masters of the Universe, MEGA, UNO, Jurassic World, Minecraft, WWE, Lightyear, and Star Wars; and licensor partner brands, including Disney Pixar, Microsoft, NBCUniversal, and WWE. It sells its products directly to consumers through its catalog, website, and proprietary retail stores; retailers, including omnichannel retailers, discount and free-standing toy stores, chain stores, department stores, and other retail outlets; and wholesalers, as well as through agents and distributors. Mattel, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in El Segundo, California.

About Brunswick

Brunswick Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets recreation products in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Propulsion, Engine P&A, Navico Group, and Boat. The Propulsion segment provides outboard, sterndrive, inboard engines, propulsion-related controls, rigging, and propellers for boat builders through marine retail dealers under the Mercury, Mercury MerCruiser, Mariner, Mercury Racing, Mercury Diesel, Avator, and Fliteboard brands. The Engine P&A segment offers engine parts and consumables, electrical products, boat parts and systems, and engine oils and lubricants through aftermarket retailers, dealers, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers for marine and non-marine markets under the Mercury, Mercury Precision Parts, Quicksilver, and Seachoice brands; and distributes marine parts and accessories. The Navico Group segment provides products and systems for the marine, recreational vehicle (RV), specialty vehicle, mobile, and industrial markets, as well as aftermarket channels; and marine electronics, sensors, control systems, instruments, power systems, and general accessories under the Ancor, Attwood, B&G, BEP, Blue Sea Systems, C-MAP, CZone, Lenco, Lowrance, Marinco, Mastervolt, MotorGuide, Progressive Industries, ProMariner, RELiON, Simrad, and Whale brand names. The Boat segment offers Sea Ray sport boats and cruisers; Bayliner sport cruisers, runabouts, and Heyday wake boats; Boston Whaler fiberglass offshore boats; Lund fiberglass fishing boats; Crestliner, Harris, Lowe, Lund, Princecraft aluminum fishing, utility, pontoon, and deck boats; Thunder Jet heavy-gauge aluminum boats; Veer recreational and fishing boats; and the freedom boat club, dealer services, and technology to the marine industry through dealers and distributors. Brunswick Corporation was founded in 1845 and is headquartered in Mettawa, Illinois.