United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS – Get Free Report) and Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN – Get Free Report) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.
Risk and Volatility
United Parks & Resorts has a beta of 1.96, suggesting that its stock price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golden Entertainment has a beta of 2.21, suggesting that its stock price is 121% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for United Parks & Resorts and Golden Entertainment, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| United Parks & Resorts | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.20 |
| Golden Entertainment | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares United Parks & Resorts and Golden Entertainment’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| United Parks & Resorts | $1.73 billion | 1.86 | $234.20 million | $3.72 | 13.79 |
| Golden Entertainment | $1.05 billion | 0.84 | $255.76 million | $9.27 | 3.29 |
Golden Entertainment has lower revenue, but higher earnings than United Parks & Resorts. Golden Entertainment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Parks & Resorts, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
70.7% of Golden Entertainment shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of United Parks & Resorts shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.1% of Golden Entertainment shares are owned by 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.
Profitability
This table compares United Parks & Resorts and Golden Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| United Parks & Resorts | 13.84% | -88.59% | 9.23% |
| Golden Entertainment | 30.14% | 1.13% | 0.38% |
Summary
Golden Entertainment beats United Parks & Resorts on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About United Parks & Resorts
United Parks & Resorts Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a theme park and entertainment company in the United States. It operates and licenses SeaWorld theme parks in Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and San Diego, California, as well as Busch Gardens theme parks in Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia. The company also operates water park attractions in Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; Chula Vista, California; Tampa, Florida; and Williamsburg, Virginia. In addition, the company operates a reservations-only theme park in Orlando, Florida and a park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania; and theme park in Chula Vista, California. It operates a portfolio of theme parks under the SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, Water Country USA, Adventure Island, and Sesame Place brand name. The company was formerly known as SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. and changed its name to United Parks & Resorts Inc. in February 2024. SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
About Golden Entertainment
Golden Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates a diversified entertainment platform in the United States. The company operates through four segments; Nevada Casino Resorts, Nevada Locals Casinos, Nevada Taverns, and Distributed Gaming. It also operates casino, casino resorts, and taverns; and slot machines in third party non-casino locations. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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