Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) & Monotaro (OTCMKTS:MONOY) Head to Head Contrast

Monotaro (OTCMKTS:MONOY) and Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Monotaro and Groupon, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Monotaro	0	0	1	0	3.00
Groupon	2	0	1	0	1.67

Groupon has a consensus price target of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 48.48%. Given Groupon’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Groupon is more favorable than Monotaro.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Monotaro shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Groupon shares are held by institutional investors. 36.6% of Groupon shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Monotaro has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Groupon has a beta of 0.29, meaning that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Monotaro and Groupon”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Monotaro	$2.23 billion	3.16	$217.31 million	$0.47	30.29
Groupon	$498.42 million	1.26	-$83.52 million	($3.11)	-4.98

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

Profitability

This table compares Monotaro and Groupon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Monotaro	9.71%	30.25%	19.15%
Groupon	-25.26%	N/A	-20.28%

Summary

Monotaro beats Groupon on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Monotaro

MonotaRO Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates an online MRO products store in Japan and internationally. The company offers safety protective equipment, work clothes, and safety shoes; logistics, storage, and packing supplies; tapes; safety, disaster prevention, and crime prevention products; safety signs; ship and fishing supplies; office supplies; office furniture/lighting/cleaning supplies; cutting tools and abrasives; measurement and surveying equipment; hand tools/electric and pneumatic tools; sprays, oils, greases, and paints; adhesives and repair materials; welding supplies; and piping and water related components/pumps/pneumatic and hydraulic equipment/hoses. It also provides mechanical parts; control equipment; soldering and anti-static products; architectural hardware, building materials, painting, and interior supplies; air conditioning and electrical equipment; electrical materials; screws, bolts, nails, and materials; automotive supplies; truck supplies; motorcycle supplies; bicycle supplies; scientific research and development supplies; clean room supplies; kitchen equipment and store supplies; agricultural and gardening supplies; and medical and nursing supplies. It serves factories, construction, automobile maintenance, and other industries. The company was formerly known as Sumisho Grainger Co., Ltd. and changed its name to MonotaRO Co., Ltd. in February 2006. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan. MonotaRO Co., Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Grainger Global Holdings, Inc.

About Groupon

Groupon, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a marketplace that connects consumers to merchants. It operates in two segments, North America and International. The company sells goods or services on behalf of third-party merchants. It serves customers through its mobile applications and websites. The company was formerly known as ThePoint.com, Inc. and changed its name to Groupon, Inc. in October 2008. Groupon, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.