Analyzing Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) and Mastercraft Boat (NASDAQ:MCFT)

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) and Mastercraft Boat (NASDAQ:MCFT) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Pool and Mastercraft Boat, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pool	2	6	4	0	2.17
Mastercraft Boat	0	5	1	1	2.43

Pool currently has a consensus target price of $261.38, suggesting a potential upside of 43.56%. Mastercraft Boat has a consensus target price of $24.80, suggesting a potential upside of 6.80%. Given Pool’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Pool is more favorable than Mastercraft Boat.

Risk and Volatility

Pool has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mastercraft Boat has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pool and Mastercraft Boat’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pool	7.57%	32.37%	10.93%
Mastercraft Boat	3.72%	10.56%	7.47%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.0% of Pool shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of Mastercraft Boat shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Pool shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Mastercraft Boat shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Pool and Mastercraft Boat”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pool	$5.36 billion	1.24	$406.40 million	$10.87	16.75
Mastercraft Boat	$298.48 million	1.27	$7.04 million	$0.68	34.15

Pool has higher revenue and earnings than Mastercraft Boat. Pool is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mastercraft Boat, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Pool beats Mastercraft Boat on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pool

Pool Corporation distributes swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products in the United States and internationally. The company offers maintenance products, including chemicals, supplies, and pool accessories; repair and replacement parts for pool equipment, such as cleaners, filters, heaters, pumps, and lights; and building materials, such as concrete, plumbing and electrical components, functional and decorative pool surfaces, decking materials, tiles, hardscapes, and natural stones for pool installations and remodeling. It also provides pool equipment and components for new pool construction and the remodeling of existing pools; irrigation and related products, such as irrigation system components, and professional turf care equipment and supplies; commercial products, including heaters, safety equipment, commercial decking equipment, and commercial pumps and filters. In addition, the company offers fiberglass pools, and hot tubs and packaged pool kits comprising walls, liners, braces, and coping for in-ground and above-ground pools; and other pool construction and recreational products comprising discretionary recreational and related outdoor living products, such as grills and components for outdoor kitchens. It serves swimming pool remodelers and builders; specialty retailers that sell swimming pool supplies; swimming pool repair and service businesses; irrigation construction and landscape maintenance contractors; and commercial pool operators and pool contractors. Pool Corporation was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Covington, Louisiana.

About Mastercraft Boat

MasterCraft Boat Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets recreational powerboats. It operates through MasterCraft, Crest, and Aviara segments. The MasterCraft segment produces premium recreational performance sport boats primarily used for water skiing, wakeboarding, wake surfing, and general recreational boating. Crest segment provides pontoon boats for use in general recreational boating. The Aviara segment produces luxury day boats for use in general recreational boating. The company also offers ski/wake, outboard, and sterndrive boats, as well as various accessories, including trailers and aftermarket parts. It sells its boats under the MasterCraft, Crest, and Aviara brands through a network of independent dealers in North America and internationally. The company was formerly known as MCBC Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to MasterCraft Boat Holdings, Inc. in November 2018. MasterCraft Boat Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Vonore, Tennessee.