Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN) and SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE:SEAS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitabiliy, earnings, valuation and risk.
Risk & Volatility
Cedar Fair, L.P. has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SeaWorld Entertainment has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
51.8% of Cedar Fair, L.P. shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Cedar Fair, L.P. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of SeaWorld Entertainment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Cedar Fair, L.P. and SeaWorld Entertainment’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Cedar Fair, L.P. | $1.28 billion | 2.91 | $406.64 million | $2.37 | 27.94 |
| SeaWorld Entertainment | $1.31 billion | 0.89 | $271.39 million | $0.12 | 113.43 |
Cedar Fair, L.P. has higher revenue, but lower earnings than SeaWorld Entertainment. Cedar Fair, L.P. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SeaWorld Entertainment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations for Cedar Fair, L.P. and SeaWorld Entertainment, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Cedar Fair, L.P. | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2.86 |
| SeaWorld Entertainment | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2.29 |
Cedar Fair, L.P. currently has a consensus price target of $74.29, suggesting a potential upside of 12.18%. SeaWorld Entertainment has a consensus price target of $16.96, suggesting a potential upside of 24.65%. Given SeaWorld Entertainment’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SeaWorld Entertainment is more favorable than Cedar Fair, L.P..
Profitability
This table compares Cedar Fair, L.P. and SeaWorld Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Cedar Fair, L.P. | 10.50% | 1,048.17% | 7.45% |
| SeaWorld Entertainment | 0.79% | 3.66% | 0.66% |
Dividends
Cedar Fair, L.P. pays an annual dividend of $3.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. SeaWorld Entertainment pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cedar Fair, L.P. pays out 144.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SeaWorld Entertainment pays out 83.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cedar Fair, L.P. has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and SeaWorld Entertainment has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.
Summary
Cedar Fair, L.P. beats SeaWorld Entertainment on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Cedar Fair, L.P.
Cedar Fair, L.P. is an operator of regional amusement parks. The Company operates within a segment of amusement/water parks with accompanying resort facilities. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned approximately 11 amusement parks, two separately gated outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels. The 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, Canada; Kings Island, near Cincinnati, Ohio; Carowinds, in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom (Dorney Park), in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Kings Dominion, near Richmond, Virginia; California’s Great America, in Santa Clara, California; Valleyfair, near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Worlds of Fun, in Kansas City, Missouri, and Michigan’s Adventure, in Muskegon, Michigan. It manages and operates Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in Gilroy, California.
About SeaWorld Entertainment
SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. is a theme park and entertainment company. The Company owns or licenses a portfolio of brands, including SeaWorld, Sea Rescue and Busch Gardens. As of December 31, 2016, the Company had a diversified portfolio of 12 destination and regional theme parks that are located across the United States. Its theme parks feature a range of rides, shows and other attractions. The Company operates SeaWorld theme parks in Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas (Aquatica); San Diego, California (Aquatica); Tampa, Florida (Adventure Island), and Williamsburg, Virginia (Water Country USA). The Company operates water park attractions in Orlando, Florida (Aquatica); San Diego, California (Aquatica); Tampa, Florida (Adventure Island), and Williamsburg, Virginia (Water Country USA). The Company also operates a reservations-only attraction offering interaction with marine animals (Discovery Cove) and a seasonal park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania (Sesame Place).
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