Comparing Johnson Outdoors (JOUT) and Acushnet Holdings Corp. (GOLF)

Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ: JOUT) and Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

60.4% of Johnson Outdoors shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.2% of Acushnet Holdings Corp. shares are held by institutional investors. 28.4% of Johnson Outdoors shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 54.0% of Acushnet Holdings Corp. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Johnson Outdoors and Acushnet Holdings Corp.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Johnson Outdoors	6.85%	12.90%	8.53%
Acushnet Holdings Corp.	4.25%	10.27%	3.91%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Johnson Outdoors and Acushnet Holdings Corp.’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Johnson Outdoors	$473.75 million	1.27	$51.51 million	$3.23	18.93
Acushnet Holdings Corp.	$1.53 billion	0.80	$174.85 million	$0.53	31.02

Acushnet Holdings Corp. has higher revenue and earnings than Johnson Outdoors. Johnson Outdoors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acushnet Holdings Corp., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Johnson Outdoors pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Acushnet Holdings Corp. pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Johnson Outdoors pays out 11.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acushnet Holdings Corp. pays out 90.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Johnson Outdoors and Acushnet Holdings Corp., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Johnson Outdoors	0	0	2	0	3.00
Acushnet Holdings Corp.	0	8	6	0	2.43

Johnson Outdoors presently has a consensus price target of $46.50, suggesting a potential downside of 23.96%. Acushnet Holdings Corp. has a consensus price target of $21.61, suggesting a potential upside of 31.45%. Given Acushnet Holdings Corp.’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Acushnet Holdings Corp. is more favorable than Johnson Outdoors.

Summary

Johnson Outdoors beats Acushnet Holdings Corp. on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Johnson Outdoors

Johnson Outdoors Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of branded seasonal, outdoor recreation products. The Company operates through four segments: Marine Electronics, Outdoor Equipment, Watercraft and Diving. Its Marine Electronics segment’s brands are Minn Kota, Humminbird and Cannon. Its Outdoor Equipment segment’s brands are Eureka!, Jetboil and Silva. Its Watercraft segment designs and markets Necky sea touring kayaks; sit on top Ocean Kayaks, and Old Town canoes and kayaks for family recreation, touring, angling and tripping. The Company manufactures and markets underwater diving products for recreational divers, which it sells and distributes under the SCUBAPRO brand name. It markets a line of underwater diving and snorkeling equipment, including regulators, buoyancy compensators, dive computers and gauges, wetsuits, masks, fins, snorkels and accessories. The Company’s products are used for fishing from a boat, diving, paddling, hiking and camping.

About Acushnet Holdings Corp.

Acushnet Holdings Corp. is engaged in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of golf products. The Company is engaged in various product categories, such as golf clubs, wedges, putters, golf gloves, golf gear and golf wear. The Company operates in four segments: Titleist Golf Balls, Titleist Golf Clubs, Titleist Golf Gear and FootJoy Golf Wear. The company’s Titleist golf ball segment is engaged in designing and manufacturing a golf ball. It sells Titleist Pro V1. The Company also designs, manufactures and sells other golf balls under the Titleist brand, such as NXT Tour, Velocity and DT TruSoft, as well as under the Pinnacle brand. The Company designs, assembles and sells golf clubs (drivers, fairways, hybrids and irons) under the Titleist brand, wedges under the Vokey Design brand, and putters under the Scotty Cameron brand. Titleist golf clubs, Vokey Design wedges and Scotty Cameron putters are used by the players.