Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) vs. CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) Head to Head Review

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for CAVA Group and Norwegian Cruise Line, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CAVA Group	0	9	16	1	2.69
Norwegian Cruise Line	1	15	6	1	2.30

CAVA Group presently has a consensus target price of $89.44, suggesting a potential upside of 47.52%. Norwegian Cruise Line has a consensus target price of $20.95, suggesting a potential upside of 34.47%. Given CAVA Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe CAVA Group is more favorable than Norwegian Cruise Line.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.2% of CAVA Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.6% of Norwegian Cruise Line shares are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of CAVA Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Norwegian Cruise Line shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares CAVA Group and Norwegian Cruise Line’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CAVA Group	4.82%	8.28%	4.73%
Norwegian Cruise Line	7.49%	41.38%	4.21%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares CAVA Group and Norwegian Cruise Line”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CAVA Group	$1.18 billion	6.00	$63.74 million	$0.55	110.24
Norwegian Cruise Line	$9.83 billion	0.73	$423.25 million	$1.60	9.74

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

Risk and Volatility

CAVA Group has a beta of 1.74, meaning that its share price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norwegian Cruise Line has a beta of 1.88, meaning that its share price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

CAVA Group beats Norwegian Cruise Line on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CAVA Group

CAVA Group, Inc. owns and operates a chain of restaurants under the CAVA brand in the United States. The company also offers dips, spreads, and dressings through grocery stores. In addition, the company provides online and mobile ordering platforms. Cava Group, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.

About Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a cruise company in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. It offers itineraries ranging from three days to a 180-days calling on various ports, including Scandinavia, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Greek Isles, Alaska, Canada and New England, Hawaii, Asia, Tahiti and the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, Africa, India, South America, the Panama Canal, and the Caribbean. It distributes its products through retail/travel advisor and onboard cruise sales channels, as well as meetings, incentives, and charters. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. was founded in 1966 and is based in Miami, Florida.