Critical Contrast: Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co (CCSC) versus Carrols Restaurant Group (TAST)

Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co (NASDAQ: CCSC) and Carrols Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:TAST) are both cyclical consumer goods & services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co and Carrols Restaurant Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co	0	0	0	0	N/A
Carrols Restaurant Group	0	0	1	1	3.50

Carrols Restaurant Group has a consensus price target of $16.50, indicating a potential upside of 47.32%. Given Carrols Restaurant Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Carrols Restaurant Group is more favorable than Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.0% of Carrols Restaurant Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of Carrols Restaurant Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co and Carrols Restaurant Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co	3.68%	5.63%	4.72%
Carrols Restaurant Group	3.44%	6.33%	1.86%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co and Carrols Restaurant Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Carrols Restaurant Group	$999.03 million	0.40	$80.24 million	$0.72	15.56

Carrols Restaurant Group has higher revenue and earnings than Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co.

Summary

Carrols Restaurant Group beats Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

Country Syl Ckng Restaurant Chain Co Company Profile

Country Style Cooking Restaurant Chain Co., Ltd. (CSC Cayman) is a quick service restaurant chain in China. The Company is engaged in serving Sichuan-style fast food over the counter in the People’s Republic of China. The Company’s restaurant chain has approximately 337 restaurants, including around 177 restaurants in Chongqing municipality and around 103 restaurants in Sichuan province. CSC Cayman’s staples include entrees, such as spicy sauteed pork, Taiwanese-style braised pork over rice, honey-roasted spicy chicken wings, mushroom chicken, shredded pepper steak, shredded quick-fried ginger duck and kung pao chicken, along with a range of appetizers, desserts and beverages. Each entree on its menu is prepared with pre-mixed sauce packages delivered from the Company’s central facility in Chongqing. Approximately 260 of the Company’s restaurants are operated under its CSC brand and around 74 of the restaurants were operated under its Mr. Rice brand.

Carrols Restaurant Group Company Profile

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. is a holding company and conducts all of its operations through its subsidiary, Carrols Corporation (Carrols) and Carrols’ subsidiary, Carrols LLC. The Company is a restaurant company and Burger King franchisee in the United States. As of January 1, 2017, the Company had owned and operated 753 Burger King restaurants under the name Burger King in 16 Northeastern, Midwestern and Southeastern states. Burger King restaurants feature the flame-broiled Whopper sandwich, as well as a range of hamburgers, chicken and other specialty sandwiches, French fries, salads, breakfast items, hot dogs, snacks, smoothies, frappes and other offerings. The Company’s Burger King restaurants are located in various states, such as Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.