Head to Head Contrast: Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM) versus Marcus (NYSE:MCS)

Marcus (NYSE:MCS) and Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Marcus and Trip.com Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marcus	0	2	3	1	2.83
Trip.com Group	0	2	11	1	2.93

Marcus currently has a consensus target price of $23.75, suggesting a potential upside of 52.99%. Trip.com Group has a consensus target price of $76.98, suggesting a potential upside of 6.87%. Given Marcus’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Marcus is more favorable than Trip.com Group.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

81.6% of Marcus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.4% of Trip.com Group shares are held by institutional investors. 5.0% of Marcus shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.0% of Trip.com Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Marcus pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Trip.com Group pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Marcus pays out 133.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Trip.com Group pays out 7.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Marcus has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Marcus is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Marcus and Trip.com Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marcus	1.91%	4.28%	1.88%
Trip.com Group	31.58%	11.30%	6.60%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Marcus and Trip.com Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marcus	$753.27 million	0.63	-$7.79 million	$0.24	64.68
Trip.com Group	$57.29 billion	0.82	$2.34 billion	$3.65	19.73

Trip.com Group has higher revenue and earnings than Marcus. Trip.com Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marcus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Trip.com Group beats Marcus on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marcus

The Marcus Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates movie theatres, and hotels and resorts in the United States. It operates a family entertainment center and multiscreen motion picture theatres under the Big Screen Bistro, Big Screen Bistro Express, BistroPlex, and Movie Tavern by Marcus brand names. The company also owns and operates full-service hotels and resorts, as well as manages full-service hotels, resorts, and other properties. In addition, it provides hospitality management services, including check-in, housekeeping, and maintenance for a vacation ownership development; and manages condominium hotels under long-term management contracts. The Marcus Corporation was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Trip.com Group

Trip.com Group Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a travel service provider for accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and in-destination, corporate travel management, and other travel-related services in China and internationally. The company acts as an agent for hotel-related transactions and selling air tickets, as well as provides train, long-distance bus, and ferry tickets; travel insurance products, such as flight delay, air accident, and baggage loss coverage; and air-ticket delivery, online check-in and seat selection, express security screening, real-time flight status tracker, and airport VIP lounge services. It also provides independent leisure travelers bundled packaged-tour products comprising group, semi-group, and customized and packaged tours with various transportation arrangements, including air, cruise, bus, and car rental services. In addition, the company offers integrated transportation and accommodation services; destination transportation and ticket, activity, insurance, visa, and tour guide services; user support, supplier management, and customer relationship management services; and in-destination products and services. Further, It provides its corporate clients with business visit, incentive trip, meeting and conference, travel data collection and analysis, and industry benchmarking solutions; and Corporate Travel Management System, an online platform that integrates information management, online booking and authorization, online inquiry, and travel reporting systems. Additionally, the company offers online advertising and financial services, such as marketing planning and travel media services. It operates under the Ctrip, Qunar, Trip.com, and Skyscanner brands. The company was formerly known as Ctrip.com International, Ltd. and changed its name to Trip.com Group Limited in October 2019. Trip.com Group Limited was founded in 1999 and is based in Singapore.