Reviewing Carnival (NYSE:CUK) & Target Hospitality (NASDAQ:TH)

Carnival (NYSE:CUK) and Target Hospitality (NASDAQ:TH) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Carnival and Target Hospitality”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carnival	$26.98 billion	0.20	$2.76 billion	$2.25	12.80
Target Hospitality	$320.64 million	4.64	-$37.12 million	($0.38)	-39.08

Carnival has higher revenue and earnings than Target Hospitality. Target Hospitality is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carnival, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

23.8% of Carnival shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.4% of Target Hospitality shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Carnival shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 68.0% of Target Hospitality shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Carnival and Target Hospitality, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carnival	0	1	1	0	2.50
Target Hospitality	1	0	2	1	2.75

Target Hospitality has a consensus price target of $16.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.11%. Given Target Hospitality’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Target Hospitality is more favorable than Carnival.

Volatility & Risk

Carnival has a beta of 2.51, suggesting that its share price is 151% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Target Hospitality has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Carnival and Target Hospitality’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carnival	11.48%	26.92%	6.20%
Target Hospitality	-11.58%	-8.65%	-6.41%

Summary

Carnival beats Target Hospitality on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carnival

Carnival Plc operates as a global cruise and vacation company. The firm offers holiday and vacation products to a customer base that is broadly varied in terms of cultures, languages and leisure-time preferences. It operates through the North America and Australia (NAA), Europe and Asia (EA), Cruise Support, and Tour and Other segments. The NAA segment includes Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, P and O Cruises (Australia), Princess and Seabourn. The EA segment includes AIDA, Costa, Cunard, and P and O Cruises (UK). The Cruise Support segment includes a portfolio of port destinations and other services, all of which are operated for the benefit of cruise brands. The Tour and Other segment represents the hotel and transportation operations of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours and other operations. The company was founded on July 19, 2000 and is headquartered in Southampton, the United Kingdom.

About Target Hospitality

Target Hospitality Corp. operates as a specialty rental and hospitality services company in North America. The company operates through two segments, Hospitality & Facilities Services – South and Government. It owns a network of specialty rental accommodation units. In addition, the company provides catering and food, maintenance, housekeeping, grounds-keeping, security, health and recreation facilities, workforce community management, concierge, and laundry services. It serves the U.S. government contractors and investment grade natural resource development companies. Target Hospitality Corp. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.