Marston's (MARS) Competitors

J D Wetherspoon (LON:JDW) and Marston's (LON:MARS) are both small-cap consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, community ranking, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Which has more risk and volatility, JDW or MARS?

J D Wetherspoon has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marston's has a beta of 1.68, suggesting that its share price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is JDW or MARS a better dividend stock?

J D Wetherspoon pays an annual dividend of GBX 12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Marston's pays an annual dividend of GBX 8 per share and has a dividend yield of 21.9%. J D Wetherspoon pays out 30.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Marston's pays out -293.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Marston's is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to JDW or MARS?

In the previous week, Marston's had 11 more articles in the media than J D Wetherspoon. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Marston's and 0 mentions for J D Wetherspoon. Marston's' average media sentiment score of 0.80 beat J D Wetherspoon's score of 0.00 indicating that Marston's is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
J D Wetherspoon	Neutral
Marston's	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor JDW or MARS?

Marston's received 316 more outperform votes than J D Wetherspoon when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.23% of users gave Marston's an outperform vote while only 42.80% of users gave J D Wetherspoon an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
J D Wetherspoon	Outperform Votes 309 42.80%	Underperform Votes 413 57.20%
Marston's	Outperform Votes 625 64.23%	Underperform Votes 348 35.77%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, JDW or MARS?

J D Wetherspoon has higher revenue and earnings than Marston's. Marston's is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than J D Wetherspoon, 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
J D Wetherspoon	£1.93B	0.38	£46.29M	£39.30	15.75
Marston's	£891.28M	0.26	-£17.06M	-£2.73	-13.42

Do analysts recommend JDW or MARS?

J D Wetherspoon presently has a consensus target price of GBX 548.50, suggesting a potential downside of 11.39%. Given J D Wetherspoon's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe J D Wetherspoon is more favorable than Marston's.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
J D Wetherspoon	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Marston's	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in JDW or MARS?

70.0% of J D Wetherspoon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.5% of Marston's shares are held by institutional investors. 31.3% of J D Wetherspoon shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Marston's shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is JDW or MARS more profitable?

J D Wetherspoon has a net margin of 2.40% compared to Marston's' net margin of -1.91%. J D Wetherspoon's return on equity of 12.66% beat Marston's' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
J D Wetherspoon	2.40%	12.66%	4.59%
Marston's	-1.91%	-2.72%	3.72%

Summary

J D Wetherspoon beats Marston's on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.