Head-To-Head Review: Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) & KinderCare Learning Companies (NYSE:KLC)

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) and KinderCare Learning Companies (NYSE:KLC) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Matthews International and KinderCare Learning Companies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matthews International	1	2	0	0	1.67
KinderCare Learning Companies	5	5	1	0	1.64

Matthews International presently has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.97%. KinderCare Learning Companies has a consensus target price of $3.77, indicating a potential upside of 112.47%. Given KinderCare Learning Companies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe KinderCare Learning Companies is more favorable than Matthews International.

Volatility and Risk

Matthews International has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KinderCare Learning Companies has a beta of 3.86, indicating that its stock price is 286% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Matthews International and KinderCare Learning Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Matthews International	-2.65%	4.51%	1.45%
KinderCare Learning Companies	-17.23%	6.65%	1.21%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.1% of Matthews International shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of Matthews International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.8% of KinderCare Learning Companies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Matthews International and KinderCare Learning Companies”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matthews International	$1.50 billion	0.40	-$24.47 million	($0.93)	-20.82
KinderCare Learning Companies	$2.73 billion	0.08	-$112.88 million	($3.98)	-0.45

Matthews International has higher earnings, but lower revenue than KinderCare Learning Companies. Matthews International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KinderCare Learning Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Matthews International

Matthews International Corporation provides brand solutions, memorialization products, and industrial technologies worldwide. It operates through three segments: Memorialization, Industrial Technologies, and SGK Brand Solutions. The Memorialization segment provides bronze and granite memorials, upright granite memorials and monuments, concrete burial vaults, cremation memorialization products, granite benches, flower vases, crypt plates and letters, cremation urns, niche units, cemetery features, and statues, as well as bronze plaques, letters, emblems, vases, lights and photo ceramics, granite monuments, mausoleums, crypts, and flush memorials. The Industrial Technologies segment designs, manufactures, services, and distributes high-tech custom energy storage solutions, and product identification and warehouse automation technologies and solutions, including order fulfillment systems for identifying, tracking, picking, and conveying consumer and industrial products. This segment also provides engineered calendaring, laminating, and coating equipment; stand-alone marking products; laser and ink-jet printing systems; and spare parts, calendar, and coating-roller refurbishing and retrofits. The SGK Brand solutions segment provides brand management, pre-media services, printing plates and cylinders, imaging services, digital asset management, merchandising display systems, and marketing and design services for the consumer goods and retail industries. The company was founded in 1850 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About KinderCare Learning Companies

KinderCare Learning Companies Inc. is a provider of high-quality early childhood education by center capacity. KinderCare Learning Companies Inc. is based in PORTLAND, Ore.