Ituran Location and Control (ITRN) Competitors

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) and Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, community ranking, media sentiment, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Which has more risk and volatility, CENT or ITRN?

Central Garden & Pet has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ituran Location and Control has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate CENT or ITRN?

Central Garden & Pet currently has a consensus price target of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.61%. Ituran Location and Control has a consensus price target of $50.00, suggesting a potential upside of 38.89%. Given Ituran Location and Control's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ituran Location and Control is more favorable than Central Garden & Pet.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Central Garden & Pet	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Ituran Location and Control	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in CENT or ITRN?

16.1% of Central Garden & Pet shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Ituran Location and Control shares are held by institutional investors. 8.2% of Central Garden & Pet shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Ituran Location and Control shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CENT or ITRN more profitable?

Ituran Location and Control has a net margin of 15.65% compared to Central Garden & Pet's net margin of 3.77%. Ituran Location and Control's return on equity of 28.31% beat Central Garden & Pet's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Central Garden & Pet	3.77%	10.08%	4.38%
Ituran Location and Control	15.65%	28.31%	16.21%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CENT or ITRN?

Central Garden & Pet received 19 more outperform votes than Ituran Location and Control when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.71% of users gave Ituran Location and Control an outperform vote while only 59.95% of users gave Central Garden & Pet an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Central Garden & Pet	Outperform Votes 256 59.95%	Underperform Votes 171 40.05%
Ituran Location and Control	Outperform Votes 237 63.71%	Underperform Votes 135 36.29%

Does the media favor CENT or ITRN?

In the previous week, Ituran Location and Control had 5 more articles in the media than Central Garden & Pet. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Ituran Location and Control and 2 mentions for Central Garden & Pet. Ituran Location and Control's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat Central Garden & Pet's score of 0.94 indicating that Ituran Location and Control is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Central Garden & Pet	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ituran Location and Control	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, CENT or ITRN?

Central Garden & Pet has higher revenue and earnings than Ituran Location and Control. Ituran Location and Control is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Central Garden & Pet, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Central Garden & Pet	$3.16B	0.74	$107.98M	$1.87	18.99
Ituran Location and Control	$337.69M	2.12	$48.14M	$2.78	12.95

Summary

Ituran Location and Control beats Central Garden & Pet on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.