Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) vs. Cedar Fair (NYSE:FUN) Critical Comparison

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) and Cedar Fair (NYSE:FUN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Live Nation Entertainment and Cedar Fair”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Live Nation Entertainment	$23.32 billion	1.32	$315.84 million	$0.94	141.05
Cedar Fair	$1.82 billion	2.55	$124.56 million	($0.64)	-72.27

Live Nation Entertainment has higher revenue and earnings than Cedar Fair. Cedar Fair is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Live Nation Entertainment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

74.5% of Live Nation Entertainment shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.7% of Cedar Fair shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Live Nation Entertainment shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Cedar Fair shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Live Nation Entertainment has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cedar Fair has a beta of 1.58, suggesting that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Live Nation Entertainment and Cedar Fair, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Live Nation Entertainment	0	1	16	0	2.94
Cedar Fair	1	1	12	0	2.79

Live Nation Entertainment currently has a consensus price target of $144.33, suggesting a potential upside of 8.86%. Cedar Fair has a consensus price target of $56.07, suggesting a potential upside of 21.24%. Given Cedar Fair’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cedar Fair is more favorable than Live Nation Entertainment.

Profitability

This table compares Live Nation Entertainment and Cedar Fair’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Live Nation Entertainment	2.11%	77.62%	2.48%
Cedar Fair	0.99%	113.05%	2.41%

Summary

Live Nation Entertainment beats Cedar Fair on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. operates as a live entertainment company worldwide. It operates through Concerts, Ticketing, and Sponsorship & Advertising segments. The Concerts segment promotes live music events in its owned or operated venues, and in rented third-party venues. This segment operates and manages music venues; produces music festivals; creates and streams associated content; and offers management and other services to artists. The Ticketing segment manages the ticketing operations, including the provision of ticketing software and services to clients and consumers with marketplace for tickets and event information through mobile apps, other websites, retail outlets, and its primary websites, such as livenation.com and ticketmaster.com; and provides ticket resale services. This segment sells tickets for its events and third-party clients in various live event categories. This segment offers ticketing services for arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters, music clubs, concert promoters, professional sports franchises and leagues, college sports teams, performing arts venues, museums, and theaters. The Sponsorship & Advertising segment sells international, national, and local sponsorships and placement of advertising, including signage, online, and promotional programs; rich media offering that comprises advertising related with live streaming and music-related content; and ads across its distribution network of venues, events, and websites. This segment also manages the development of strategic sponsorship programs, as well as develops, books, and produces custom events or programs for specific brands. It owns, operates, or leases entertainment venues. The company was formerly known as Live Nation, Inc. and changed its name to Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. in January 2010. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.

About Cedar Fair

Cedar Fair, L.P. owns and operates amusement and water parks, as well as complementary resort facilities. Its amusement parks include Cedar Point located on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo in Sandusky, Ohio; Knott's Berry Farm near Los Angeles, California; Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Ontario; Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio; Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina; Kings Dominion situated near Richmond, Virginia; California's Great America located in Santa Clara, California; Dorney Park in Pennsylvania; Worlds of Fun located in Kansas City, Missouri; Valleyfair situated near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Michigan's Adventure situated near Muskegon, Michigan; Schlitterbahn Waterpark & Resort New Braunfels in New Braunfels, Texas; and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston in Galveston, Texas. The company also owns and operates the Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark Resort, Hotel Breakers, Cedar Point's Express Hotel, and Sawmill Creek Resort. Cedar Fair, L.P. was founded in 1983 and is based in Sandusky, Ohio.