Comparing Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) & GEN Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:GENK)

GEN Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:GENK) and Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

GEN Restaurant Group has a beta of 2.3, suggesting that its stock price is 130% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bloomin’ Brands has a beta of 2.04, suggesting that its stock price is 104% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares GEN Restaurant Group and Bloomin’ Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GEN Restaurant Group	0.56%	2.76%	0.55%
Bloomin’ Brands	1.56%	65.73%	7.26%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.2% of GEN Restaurant Group shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Bloomin’ Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares GEN Restaurant Group and Bloomin’ Brands’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GEN Restaurant Group	$195.29 million	1.35	$8.41 million	$0.18	45.11
Bloomin’ Brands	$4.62 billion	0.29	$247.39 million	$0.64	24.42

Bloomin’ Brands has higher revenue and earnings than GEN Restaurant Group. Bloomin’ Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GEN Restaurant Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for GEN Restaurant Group and Bloomin’ Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GEN Restaurant Group	0	0	3	0	3.00
Bloomin’ Brands	0	7	2	0	2.22

GEN Restaurant Group presently has a consensus price target of $13.17, indicating a potential upside of 62.15%. Bloomin’ Brands has a consensus price target of $23.33, indicating a potential upside of 49.29%. Given GEN Restaurant Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe GEN Restaurant Group is more favorable than Bloomin’ Brands.

About GEN Restaurant Group

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc. operates restaurants in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, New York, and Florida. It offers meats, poultry, and seafood. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Cerritos, California.

About Bloomin’ Brands

Bloomin' Brands, Inc., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates casual, upscale casual, and fine dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, U.S. and International. Its restaurant portfolio has four concepts, including Outback Steakhouse, a casual steakhouse restaurant; Carrabba's Italian Grill, a casual Italian restaurant; Bonefish Grill; and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, a contemporary steakhouse. The company was founded in 1988 and is based in Tampa, Florida.