McGrath RentCorp (MGRC) Competitors

McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) and UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, media sentiment, community ranking, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Does the media favor MGRC or UNF?

In the previous week, UniFirst had 6 more articles in the media than McGrath RentCorp. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for UniFirst and 4 mentions for McGrath RentCorp. McGrath RentCorp's average media sentiment score of 1.44 beat UniFirst's score of 1.30 indicating that McGrath RentCorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

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

Do analysts recommend MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp presently has a consensus target price of $145.50, indicating a potential upside of 37.69%. UniFirst has a consensus target price of $180.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.92%. Given McGrath RentCorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe McGrath RentCorp is more favorable than UniFirst.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
McGrath RentCorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
UniFirst	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50

Do insiders & institutionals believe in MGRC or UNF?

92.1% of McGrath RentCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.2% of UniFirst shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of McGrath RentCorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of UniFirst shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MGRC or UNF a better dividend stock?

McGrath RentCorp pays an annual dividend of $1.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. UniFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. McGrath RentCorp pays out 20.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UniFirst pays out 17.4% 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. McGrath RentCorp has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years. McGrath RentCorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than UniFirst. McGrath RentCorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UniFirst, 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
McGrath RentCorp	$910.94M	2.85	$174.62M	$9.43	11.21
UniFirst	$2.45B	1.33	$145.47M	$8.04	21.75

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp received 20 more outperform votes than UniFirst when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.01% of users gave McGrath RentCorp an outperform vote while only 52.55% of users gave UniFirst an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
McGrath RentCorp	Outperform Votes 257 58.01%	Underperform Votes 186 41.99%
UniFirst	Outperform Votes 237 52.55%	Underperform Votes 214 47.45%

Is MGRC or UNF more profitable?

McGrath RentCorp has a net margin of 25.44% compared to UniFirst's net margin of 6.00%. McGrath RentCorp's return on equity of 13.68% beat UniFirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
McGrath RentCorp	25.44%	13.68%	6.16%
UniFirst	6.00%	7.40%	5.80%

Which has more volatility and risk, MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UniFirst has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

McGrath RentCorp beats UniFirst on 16 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.