Papa John's International (PZZA) Competitors

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) and Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Is ARCO or PZZA more profitable?

Papa John's International has a net margin of 3.58% compared to Arcos Dorados' net margin of 2.89%. Arcos Dorados' return on equity of 24.54% beat Papa John's International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arcos Dorados	2.89%	24.54%	4.10%
Papa John's International	3.58%	-14.42%	6.78%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, ARCO or PZZA?

Arcos Dorados has higher revenue and earnings than Papa John's International. Arcos Dorados is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Papa John's International, 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
Arcos Dorados	$4.47B	0.33	$148.76M	$0.63	11.21
Papa John's International	$2.06B	0.73	$83.49M	$2.26	20.35

Does the media prefer ARCO or PZZA?

In the previous week, Arcos Dorados and Arcos Dorados both had 4 articles in the media. Arcos Dorados' average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat Papa John's International's score of 1.18 indicating that Arcos Dorados is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Arcos Dorados	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Papa John's International	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in ARCO or PZZA?

55.9% of Arcos Dorados shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Papa John's International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, ARCO or PZZA?

Arcos Dorados has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Papa John's International has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate ARCO or PZZA?

Arcos Dorados presently has a consensus target price of $8.80, suggesting a potential upside of 24.56%. Papa John's International has a consensus target price of $52.33, suggesting a potential upside of 13.79%. Given Arcos Dorados' higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Arcos Dorados is more favorable than Papa John's International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arcos Dorados	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Papa John's International	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.45

Is ARCO or PZZA a better dividend stock?

Arcos Dorados pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Papa John's International pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Arcos Dorados pays out 38.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Papa John's International pays out 81.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Arcos Dorados has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Papa John's International has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Papa John's International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Papa John's International beats Arcos Dorados on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.