McGrath RentCorp (MGRC) Competitors

McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) and Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) are both mid-cap diversified support services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment and earnings.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MGRC or UNF?

92.1% of McGrath RentCorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.2% of Unifirst shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of McGrath RentCorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Unifirst shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MGRC or UNF a better dividend stock?

McGrath RentCorp pays an annual dividend of $1.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Unifirst pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. McGrath RentCorp pays out 18.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Unifirst pays out 17.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. McGrath RentCorp has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years and Unifirst has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years. McGrath RentCorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is MGRC or UNF more profitable?

McGrath RentCorp has a net margin of 26.81% compared to Unifirst's net margin of 6.18%. McGrath RentCorp's return on equity of 13.52% beat Unifirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
McGrath RentCorp	26.81%	13.52%	6.69%
Unifirst	6.18%	7.35%	5.78%

Which has more volatility and risk, MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unifirst has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor MGRC or UNF?

In the previous week, Unifirst had 1 more articles in the media than McGrath RentCorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Unifirst and 6 mentions for McGrath RentCorp. McGrath RentCorp's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat Unifirst's score of 0.61 indicating that McGrath RentCorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
McGrath RentCorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Unifirst	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Unifirst. McGrath RentCorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Unifirst, 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
McGrath RentCorp	$941.54M	3.12	$231.73M	$10.27	11.61
Unifirst	$2.43B	1.24	$145.47M	$8.14	19.87

Do analysts recommend MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp currently has a consensus price target of $147.50, indicating a potential upside of 23.72%. Unifirst has a consensus price target of $179.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.96%. Given McGrath RentCorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe McGrath RentCorp is more favorable than Unifirst.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
McGrath RentCorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Unifirst	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.60

Summary

McGrath RentCorp beats Unifirst on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.