Reviewing eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and SEA (NYSE:SE)

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and SEA (NYSE:SE) are both large-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for eBay and SEA, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
eBay	2	16	13	2	2.45
SEA	0	3	10	1	2.86

eBay currently has a consensus price target of $115.84, suggesting a potential downside of 4.58%. SEA has a consensus price target of $149.40, suggesting a potential upside of 100.62%. Given SEA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SEA is more favorable than eBay.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares eBay and SEA”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
eBay	$12.01 billion	4.50	$2.03 billion	$4.83	25.14
SEA	$27.72 billion	1.64	$1.58 billion	$2.59	28.75

eBay has higher earnings, but lower revenue than SEA. eBay is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SEA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

eBay has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEA has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.5% of eBay shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.5% of SEA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of eBay shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of SEA shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares eBay and SEA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
eBay	18.50%	47.88%	12.38%
SEA	5.98%	13.54%	5.59%

Dividends

eBay pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. SEA pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. eBay pays out 25.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SEA pays out 68.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. eBay has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Summary

eBay beats SEA on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About eBay

eBay Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates marketplace platforms that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and internationally. The company’s marketplace platform includes its online marketplace at ebay.com, off-platform businesses, and the eBay suite of mobile apps. Its platforms enable users to list, sell, and buy various products. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About SEA

Sea Ltd. is an internet and mobile platform company, which engages in the provision of online gaming services. It operates through the following segments: Digital Entertainment, E-Commerce, and Digital Financial Services. The Digital Entertainment segment offers and develops mobile and PC online games. The E-Commerce segment manages a third-party marketplace through the Shopee mobile app and websites that connect buyers and sellers. The Digital Financial Services segment includes a variety of payment services and loans to individuals and businesses through SeaMoney. Sea was founded by Xiao Dong Li, Gang Ye, and Jing Ye Chen on May 8, 2009 and is headquartered in Singapore.