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

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.3% of Portillo’s shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of Jack in the Box shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Portillo’s shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Jack in the Box shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

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

Volatility and Risk

Portillo’s has a beta of 1.82, meaning that its stock price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jack in the Box has a beta of 1.94, meaning that its stock price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Portillo’s and Jack in the Box”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Portillo’s	$710.55 million	1.47	$18.42 million	$0.46	30.50
Jack in the Box	$1.57 billion	0.43	-$36.69 million	($2.13)	-16.97

Portillo’s has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Portillo’s and Jack in the Box, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

Portillo’s currently has a consensus price target of $14.29, suggesting a potential upside of 1.82%. Jack in the Box has a consensus price target of $49.56, suggesting a potential upside of 37.14%. Given Jack in the Box’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Jack in the Box is more favorable than Portillo’s.

Summary

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

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.

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.