OPENLANE (KAR) Competitors

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) and OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, media sentiment and community ranking.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer UNF or KAR?

OPENLANE received 416 more outperform votes than UniFirst when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.90% of users gave OPENLANE an outperform vote while only 52.55% of users gave UniFirst an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
UniFirst	Outperform Votes 237 52.55%	Underperform Votes 214 47.45%
OPENLANE	Outperform Votes 653 70.90%	Underperform Votes 268 29.10%

Is UNF or KAR a better dividend stock?

UniFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. OPENLANE pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. UniFirst pays out 17.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. OPENLANE pays out 115.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. UniFirst has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Does the media refer more to UNF or KAR?

In the previous week, UniFirst had 4 more articles in the media than OPENLANE. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for UniFirst and 8 mentions for OPENLANE. OPENLANE's average media sentiment score of 1.74 beat UniFirst's score of 1.15 indicating that OPENLANE is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
UniFirst	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
OPENLANE	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, UNF or KAR?

UniFirst has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OPENLANE has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, 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	$2.45B	1.40	$145.47M	$8.04	22.95
OPENLANE	$1.82B	1.32	-$154.10M	$0.66	33.89

Is UNF or KAR more profitable?

OPENLANE has a net margin of 6.27% compared to UniFirst's net margin of 6.00%. OPENLANE's return on equity of 9.20% beat UniFirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UniFirst	6.00%	7.40%	5.80%
OPENLANE	6.27%	9.20%	2.62%

Do analysts rate UNF or KAR?

UniFirst presently has a consensus target price of $180.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.45%. OPENLANE has a consensus target price of $23.67, suggesting a potential upside of 5.81%. Given OPENLANE's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe OPENLANE is more favorable than UniFirst.

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)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in UNF or KAR?

78.2% of UniFirst shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of OPENLANE shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of UniFirst shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of OPENLANE shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

OPENLANE beats UniFirst on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.