Comparing Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) & Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO)

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) and Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Jack in the Box and Portillo’s, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jack in the Box	1	10	6	0	2.29
Portillo’s	0	3	4	0	2.57

Jack in the Box presently has a consensus price target of $49.56, indicating a potential upside of 28.93%. Portillo’s has a consensus price target of $14.29, indicating a potential upside of 2.26%. Given Jack in the Box’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Jack in the Box is more favorable than Portillo’s.

Volatility and Risk

Jack in the Box has a beta of 1.94, meaning that its share price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Portillo’s has a beta of 1.81, meaning that its share price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.8% of Jack in the Box shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.3% of Portillo’s shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Jack in the Box shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Portillo’s shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Jack in the Box and Portillo’s”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jack in the Box	$1.57 billion	0.46	-$36.69 million	($1.95)	-19.71
Portillo’s	$713.80 million	1.45	$18.42 million	$0.42	33.26

Portillo’s has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Jack in the Box. Jack in the Box is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Portillo’s, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Jack in the Box and Portillo’s’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jack in the Box	-2.34%	-15.79%	4.36%
Portillo’s	3.65%	5.62%	1.82%

Summary

Portillo’s beats Jack in the Box on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box Inc. operates and franchises Jack in the Box and Del Taco quick-service restaurants in the United States. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Portillo’s

Portillo’s Inc. owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms. Portillo’s Inc. was founded in 1963 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.