OPENLANE (KAR) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer UNF or KAR?

Unifirst currently has a consensus target price of $179.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.43%. OPENLANE has a consensus target price of $26.50, suggesting a potential downside of 9.43%. Given Unifirst's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Unifirst is more favorable than OPENLANE.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unifirst	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50
OPENLANE	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more volatility and risk, UNF or KAR?

Unifirst has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OPENLANE has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation and earnings, UNF or KAR?

Unifirst has higher revenue and earnings than OPENLANE. Unifirst is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than OPENLANE, 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
Unifirst	$2.43B	1.35	$145.47M	$8.14	21.74
OPENLANE	$1.79B	1.74	$109.90M	$0.74	39.54

Is UNF or KAR more profitable?

OPENLANE has a net margin of 8.18% compared to Unifirst's net margin of 6.18%. OPENLANE's return on equity of 11.65% beat Unifirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unifirst	6.18%	7.35%	5.78%
OPENLANE	8.18%	11.65%	3.40%

Does the media favor UNF or KAR?

In the previous week, OPENLANE had 2 more articles in the media than Unifirst. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for OPENLANE and 7 mentions for Unifirst. OPENLANE's average media sentiment score of 1.71 beat Unifirst's score of 1.60 indicating that OPENLANE is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Unifirst	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
OPENLANE	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of UNF or KAR?

78.2% of Unifirst shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of OPENLANE shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Unifirst shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of OPENLANE shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

OPENLANE beats Unifirst on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.