Reviewing Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) and SSP Group (OTCMKTS:SSPPF)

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) and SSP Group (OTCMKTS:SSPPF) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

82.4% of Yum! Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Yum! Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Yum! Brands and SSP Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Yum! Brands	0	9	14	0	2.61
SSP Group	0	2	1	0	2.33

Yum! Brands presently has a consensus price target of $174.29, suggesting a potential upside of 8.67%. Given Yum! Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Yum! Brands is more favorable than SSP Group.

Profitability

This table compares Yum! Brands and SSP Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Yum! Brands	18.98%	-22.42%	23.46%
SSP Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Yum! Brands has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SSP Group has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Yum! Brands and SSP Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Yum! Brands	$8.21 billion	5.42	$1.56 billion	$5.55	28.90
SSP Group	$4.75 billion	0.42	-$97.17 million	N/A	N/A

Yum! Brands has higher revenue and earnings than SSP Group.

Summary

Yum! Brands beats SSP Group on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products. The company was formerly known as TRICON Global Restaurants, Inc. and changed its name to Yum! Brands, Inc. in May 2002. Yum! Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

About SSP Group

SSP Group plc operates food and beverage outlets in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and internationally. The company operates outlets at airports, railway stations, motorway service areas, hospitals, and shopping centers. It also operates sandwich shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants. SSP Group plc was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.