Critical Comparison: TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) vs. Sika (OTCMKTS:SKFOF)

Sika (OTCMKTS:SKFOF) and TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sika and TAL Education Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sika	N/A	N/A	N/A	C$149.66	1.58
TAL Education Group	$3.01 billion	2.19	$530.75 million	$1.61	7.40

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.7% of Sika shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.8% of TAL Education Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of TAL Education Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Sika and TAL Education Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sika	N/A	N/A	N/A
TAL Education Group	28.43%	24.55%	15.08%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Sika and TAL Education Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sika	0	1	1	0	2.50
TAL Education Group	0	2	1	1	2.75

TAL Education Group has a consensus price target of $14.80, suggesting a potential upside of 24.27%. Given TAL Education Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe TAL Education Group is more favorable than Sika.

Summary

TAL Education Group beats Sika on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sika

Sika AG, a specialty chemicals company, develops, produces, and sells systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry worldwide. The company offers tile adhesives and grouts, systems for under-tile waterproofing, sound reduction, renders, and decorative finishes for exterior and interior walls, as well as exterior insulation finishing systems; admixtures and additives for concrete, cement, and mortar production; and flat roofing systems, including flexible sheets and liquid-applied membranes under the Sika Sarnafil brand, as well as vapor control layers, adhesives, insulation, fixation, roof drainages, leak monitoring and detection systems, and accessories. It also provides technologies for below and above-ground waterproofing, including flexible membrane systems, such as polymeric sheets, fully bonded membranes, and modified bitumen sheets; liquid-applied membranes; joint waterproofing systems, including waterstops, swelling profiles, and adhered tapes; and waterproofing mortars and injection resins for commercial and residential basements, tunnels, bridges, and various types of water-retaining structures, such as reservoirs, storage basins, and storage tanks. In addition, the company offers flooring solutions, such as synthetic resin and cementitious systems; and sealants, adhesives, tapes, and spray foams for the building facades, interior finishing, and infrastructure projects. Further, it provides repairing, reinforcing, and protective solutions for concrete structures, such as repair mortars, shrinking grouts, anchoring adhesives, protective coatings, corrosion control, and structural strengthening systems. The company serves automobile and commercial vehicle assembly, automotive aftermarket, marine vessel, industrial lamination, renewable energy, home appliance, and facade engineering industries. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

About TAL Education Group

TAL Education Group provides K-12 after-school tutoring services in the People’s Republic of China. It provides learning services primarily through small-classes services; personalized premium services; and learning content solutions, such as print books, smart books, mobile apps, and AI-driven learning devices. The company also operates www.xueersi.com, an online education platform; provides investment management and consulting services; develops and sells software and networks, as well as related consulting services; and sells educational materials and products. It offers its services under the Haoweilai and Think Academy brands. TAL Education Group was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.