Analyzing Manchester United (NYSE:MANU) & H.I.S. (OTCMKTS:HISJF)

H.I.S. (OTCMKTS:HISJF) and Manchester United (NYSE:MANU) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

23.3% of Manchester United shares are held by institutional investors. 68.6% of Manchester United shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for H.I.S. and Manchester United, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H.I.S.	0	0	0	0	0.00
Manchester United	1	0	1	0	2.00

Manchester United has a consensus price target of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 46.50%. Given Manchester United’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Manchester United is more favorable than H.I.S..

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares H.I.S. and Manchester United”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
H.I.S.	$2.30 billion	0.43	$58.40 million	N/A	N/A
Manchester United	$666.51 million	4.06	-$42.74 million	($0.25)	-62.80

H.I.S. has higher revenue and earnings than Manchester United.

Profitability

This table compares H.I.S. and Manchester United’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H.I.S.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Manchester United	-4.92%	-9.58%	-1.09%

Volatility & Risk

H.I.S. has a beta of -0.13, meaning that its stock price is 113% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manchester United has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Manchester United beats H.I.S. on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About H.I.S.

H.I.S. Co., Ltd. provides travel agency services worldwide. The company offers sports related tours, such as ski and diving tours; casual to luxury cruises; escort accompanied tours, honeymoons, and onboard weddings; and local tour services in Australia, Thailand, Bali Island, Guam, and South Korea. It also operates hotels and theme parks; an online platform for various travel services; and bus tours connecting Tokyo and the surrounding area to Kansai and Nagoya. In addition, the company offers advertising services; and domestic and overseas travel insurance products. Further, it operates Hapi-robo st, a robot; offers various types of construction works; provides hotel amenities, guest room facilities, and furniture and electronic appliances for offices and houses; sets and manages events; coordinates with Japan medical tourism; and offers direct sales support services. Additionally, the company provides a range of diploma and certificate programs in business, international trade, hospitality, information technology, and health care; and communication equipment and services. Furthermore, it operates Smrt English, an English learning platform; and GREEN OCEAN, a job placement agency that focus on agriculture and accommodation business. The company was formerly known as International Tours Co., Ltd. and changed its name to H.I.S. Co., Ltd. in 1990. H.I.S. Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Manchester United

Manchester United plc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a professional sports team in the United Kingdom. It operates Manchester United Football Club, a professional football club. The company develops marketing and sponsorship relationships with international and regional companies to leverage its brand. It also markets and sells sports apparel, training and leisure wear, and other clothing; and other licensed products, such as coffee mugs and bed spreads featuring the Manchester United brand and trademarks, as well as distributes these products through Manchester United branded retail centers and e-commerce platforms, and through the company’s partners’ wholesale distribution channels. In addition, the company distributes live football content directly, as well as through commercial partners; broadcasts television rights relating to the Premier League, Union of European Football Associations club competitions, and other competitions; and delivers Manchester United programming through MUTV television channel to territories worldwide. Further, it operates Old Trafford, a sports venue with 74,240 seats, as well as invests in properties. The company was formerly known as Manchester United Ltd. changed its name to Manchester United plc in August 2012. Manchester United plc was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Manchester, the United Kingdom.