Reviewing Biglari (NYSE:BH.A) & Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO)

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) and Biglari (NYSE:BH.A) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Portillo’s and Biglari”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Portillo’s	$732.07 million	0.52	$19.34 million	$0.21	23.71
Biglari	$395.26 million	12.30	-$166.62 million	($72.76)	-29.18

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

Risk and Volatility

Portillo’s has a beta of 1.56, indicating that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Biglari has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.3% of Portillo’s shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.7% of Biglari shares are held by institutional investors. 6.3% of Portillo’s shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 70.9% of Biglari shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Portillo’s and Biglari’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Portillo’s	2.12%	3.17%	0.98%
Biglari	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Portillo’s and Biglari, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Portillo’s	1	10	2	0	2.08
Biglari	0	0	0	0	0.00

Portillo’s currently has a consensus target price of $7.02, indicating a potential upside of 41.02%. Given Portillo’s’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Portillo’s is more favorable than Biglari.

Summary

Portillo’s beats Biglari on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Portillo’s

Portillo’s Inc. owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms. Portillo’s Inc. was founded in 1963 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

About Biglari

Biglari Holdings Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily operates and franchises restaurants in the United States. The company owns, operates, and franchises restaurants under the Steak n Shake and Western Sizzlin names. As of December 31, 2019, it operated 368 Steak n Shake company-operated restaurants and 213 franchised units; and 4 Western Sizzlin company-operated restaurants and 48 franchised units. The company also engages in underwriting commercial trucking insurance, and selling physical damage and non-trucking liability insurance to truckers; and operates oil and natural gas properties offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, it publishes and sells magazines, and related publishing products under the MAXIM and Maxim brand name; and licenses media products and services, as well as is involved in the investment activities. The company was formerly known as The Steak n Shake Company and changed its name to Biglari Holdings Inc. in April 2010. Biglari Holdings Inc. was founded in 1934 and is based in San Antonio, Texas.