Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (PLAY) versus Its Peers Head to Head Review

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) is one of 382 public companies in the “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Dave & Buster’s Entertainment to similar companies based on the strength of its profitability, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Dave & Buster’s Entertainment and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment	-4.26%	-51.87%	-1.29%
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Competitors	2.36%	-40.12%	2.12%

Risk and Volatility

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment has a beta of 1.92, suggesting that its share price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s competitors have a beta of 1.44, suggesting that their average share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.4% of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.6% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.2% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment	2	5	2	0	2.00
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Competitors	3792	17182	25454	901	2.50

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment presently has a consensus price target of $17.33, suggesting a potential upside of 121.37%. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies have a potential upside of 58.95%. Given Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Dave & Buster’s Entertainment is more favorable than its competitors.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Dave & Buster’s Entertainment and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment	$2.08 billion	-$48.70 million	-3.05
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Competitors	$3.43 billion	$250.20 million	-147.29

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Dave & Buster’s Entertainment. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment pays out -24.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 37.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment competitors beat Dave & Buster’s Entertainment on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates entertainment and dining venues for adults and families. Its venues offer a menu of entrees and appetizers, as well as a selection of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages; and an assortment of entertainment attractions centered on playing games and watching live sports, and other televised events. The company operates its venues under the Dave & Buster's name. As of April 02, 2019, it owned and operated 125 venues in 39 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.