Imax Corporation (NYSE: IMAX) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation and earnings.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Imax Corporation and Regal Entertainment Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Imax Corporation | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 2.67 |
| Regal Entertainment Group | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2.38 |
Imax Corporation presently has a consensus price target of $34.82, indicating a potential upside of 92.90%. Regal Entertainment Group has a consensus price target of $24.54, indicating a potential upside of 67.84%. Given Imax Corporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Imax Corporation is more favorable than Regal Entertainment Group.
Dividends
Regal Entertainment Group pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Imax Corporation does not pay a dividend. Regal Entertainment Group pays out 82.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Imax Corporation and Regal Entertainment Group’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Imax Corporation | $349.35 million | 3.34 | $72.50 million | $0.14 | 128.94 |
| Regal Entertainment Group | $3.21 billion | 0.71 | $587.10 million | $1.07 | 13.66 |
Regal Entertainment Group has higher revenue and earnings than Imax Corporation. Regal Entertainment Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Imax Corporation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Imax Corporation has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Regal Entertainment Group has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
80.6% of Imax Corporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of Regal Entertainment Group shares are held by institutional investors. 18.9% of Imax Corporation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Regal Entertainment Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Imax Corporation and Regal Entertainment Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Imax Corporation | 2.81% | 2.39% | 1.72% |
| Regal Entertainment Group | 5.24% | -20.42% | 6.50% |
Summary
Imax Corporation beats Regal Entertainment Group on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
Imax Corporation Company Profile
IMAX Corporation is an entertainment technology company. The Company operates through seven segments: IMAX systems; theater system maintenance; joint revenue sharing arrangements; film production and IMAX DMR; film distribution; film post-production, and other. The IMAX systems segment designs, manufactures, sells or leases IMAX theater projection system equipment. The theater system maintenance segment maintains IMAX theater projection system equipment in the IMAX theater network. The joint revenue sharing arrangements segment provides IMAX theater projection system equipment to exhibitors. The film production and IMAX DMR segment produces films and performs film re-mastering services. The film distribution segment distributes films. The film post-production segment provides film post-production and film print services. The other segment includes certain IMAX theaters that the Company owns and operates, camera rentals and other miscellaneous items.
Regal Entertainment Group Company Profile
Regal Entertainment Group is an operator of theatre circuits in the United States. As of March 31, 2017, the Company operated 7,262 screens in 559 theatres in 43 states along with Guam, Saipan, American Samoa and the District of Columbia. The Company manages its business under theatre exhibition operations segment. The Company develops, acquires and operates multi-screen theatres primarily in mid-sized metropolitan markets and suburban growth areas of metropolitan markets throughout the United States. The Company operates multi-screen theatres. The Company is the parent company of Regal Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (REH), which is the parent company of Regal Cinemas Corporation (Regal Cinemas) and its subsidiaries. Regal Cinemas’ subsidiaries include Regal Cinemas, Inc. (RCI) and its subsidiaries, which include Edwards Theatres, Inc. (Edwards), Regal CineMedia Corporation (RCM) and United Artists Theatre Company (United Artists).
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