Analyzing ATA (NASDAQ:AACG) & Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI)

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) and ATA (NASDAQ:AACG) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Service Corporation International and ATA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Service Corporation International	0	1	3	0	2.75
ATA	1	0	0	0	1.00

Service Corporation International currently has a consensus price target of $100.67, suggesting a potential upside of 21.48%. Given Service Corporation International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Service Corporation International is more favorable than ATA.

Risk & Volatility

Service Corporation International has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ATA has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Service Corporation International and ATA”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Service Corporation International	$4.31 billion	2.62	$542.61 million	$3.83	21.64
ATA	$38.34 million	1.01	-$6.87 million	($0.20)	-4.50

Service Corporation International has higher revenue and earnings than ATA. ATA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Service Corporation International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.5% of Service Corporation International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.7% of ATA shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Service Corporation International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 52.9% of ATA shares are held 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.

Profitability

This table compares Service Corporation International and ATA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Service Corporation International	12.30%	34.38%	2.91%
ATA	-17.96%	-90.86%	-10.89%

Summary

Service Corporation International beats ATA on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Service Corporation International

Service Corp. International engages in the provision of funeral goods and services. It operates through the Funeral and Cemetery segments. The Funeral segment offers services related to cremations, including the use of home facilities and motor vehicles, arranging and directing services, removal, preparation, embalming, memorialization, and catering. The Cemetery segment provides property interment rights, including lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces, niches, and interment options. The company was founded by Robert L. Waltrip in July 1962 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

About ATA

ATA Creativity Global, together with its subsidiaries, provides educational services to individual students through its training center network in China and internationally. Its educational services include portfolio training, research-based learning, overseas study counselling, in-school art classes through cooperation with high schools and training organizations, foreign language training services, junior art education, and other related educational services to its students. The company also offers online courses for students. It provides its services through partnership with sales channels, internet and mobile advertisement, word of mouth referral, and marketing events and activities. The company was formerly known as ATA Inc. and changed its name to ATA Creativity Global in September 2019. ATA Creativity Global was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Hefei, China.