Critical Analysis: Parks! America (OTCMKTS:PRKA) & Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR)

Parks! America (OTCMKTS:PRKA) and Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Parks! America and Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Parks! America	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.	2.11%	6.58%	5.35%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Parks! America and Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Parks! America	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.00	30,483.24
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.	$546.06 million	1.10	-$4.39 million	$0.75	49.99

Parks! America has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Parks! America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Parks! America and Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Parks! America	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.	1	1	1	0	2.00

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a consensus target price of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.68%. Given Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. is more favorable than Parks! America.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.0% of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. shares are held by institutional investors. 61.0% of Parks! America shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. beats Parks! America on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Parks! America

Parks! America, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in acquiring, developing, and operating local and regional theme parks and attractions in the United States. The company owns and operates three Wild Animal Safari theme parks located in Pine Mountain, Georgia; Strafford, Missouri; and Bryan/College Station, Texas. The company was formerly known as Great American Family Parks, Inc. and changed its name to Parks! America, Inc. in June 2008. Parks! America, Inc. is based in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

About Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. engages in the business of designing, manufacturing, and selling firearms to domestic customers. It operates through the Firearms and Castings segments. The Firearms segment focuses on manufacturing and selling rifles, pistols, and revolvers principally to a number of federally licensed, independent wholesale distributors. The Castings segment offers steel investment castings and metal injection molding parts. The company was founded by William B. Ruger in 1949 and is headquartered in Southport, CT.