OPENLANE (KAR) Competitors

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

Is UNF or KAR more profitable?

OPENLANE has a net margin of 7.15% compared to Unifirst's net margin of 6.18%. OPENLANE's return on equity of 10.38% beat Unifirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unifirst	6.18%	7.35%	5.78%
OPENLANE	7.15%	10.38%	2.98%

Which has more volatility and risk, UNF or KAR?

Unifirst has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OPENLANE has a beta of 1.41, suggesting that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend UNF or KAR?

Unifirst presently has a consensus price target of $181.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.42%. OPENLANE has a consensus price target of $24.00, suggesting a potential downside of 6.98%. Given Unifirst's higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Unifirst is more favorable than OPENLANE.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unifirst	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.67
OPENLANE	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media prefer UNF or KAR?

In the previous week, Unifirst had 34 more articles in the media than OPENLANE. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for Unifirst and 5 mentions for OPENLANE. OPENLANE's average media sentiment score of 0.70 beat Unifirst's score of 0.58 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)	7 Positive mention(s)	17 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
OPENLANE	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders 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, 1.5% of OPENLANE shares are owned 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.

Which has better earnings & 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	$2.43B	1.34	$145.47M	$8.14	21.50
OPENLANE	$1.79B	1.55	$109.90M	$0.66	39.09

Summary

OPENLANE beats Unifirst on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.