51job (NASDAQ:JOBS) and The Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.
Profitability
This table compares 51job and The Boston Beer's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| 51job | 27.33% | 8.72% | 6.78% |
| The Boston Beer | 10.77% | 20.36% | 13.84% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for 51job and The Boston Beer, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| 51job | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| The Boston Beer | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2.50 |
51job presently has a consensus target price of $72.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.37%. The Boston Beer has a consensus target price of $1,048.50, suggesting a potential downside of 3.66%. Given 51job's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe 51job is more favorable than The Boston Beer.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
44.4% of 51job shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.8% of The Boston Beer shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.1% of The Boston Beer shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares 51job and The Boston Beer's revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| 51job | $574.57 million | 7.58 | $76.46 million | $1.15 | 56.22 |
| The Boston Beer | $1.25 billion | 10.68 | $110.04 million | $9.17 | 118.68 |
The Boston Beer has higher revenue and earnings than 51job. 51job is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Boston Beer, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
51job has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Boston Beer has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
The Boston Beer beats 51job on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
