Analyzing ATA (NASDAQ:AACG) & WW International (NASDAQ:WW)

WW International (NASDAQ:WW) and ATA (NASDAQ:AACG) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for WW International and ATA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WW International	1	1	1	0	2.00
ATA	1	0	0	0	1.00

WW International currently has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 66.89%. Given WW International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe WW International is more favorable than ATA.

Volatility and Risk

WW International has a beta of 1.73, suggesting that its share price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ATA has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.2% of WW International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.7% of ATA shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of WW International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 52.9% of ATA shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares WW International and ATA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WW International	-56.84%	N/A	-0.32%
ATA	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares WW International and ATA”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WW International	$710.64 million	0.21	-$112.25 million	($10.13)	-1.48
ATA	$38.34 million	0.62	-$6.87 million	($0.20)	-3.49

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

Summary

WW International beats ATA on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WW International

WW International, Inc. provides weight management products and services worldwide. It offers a range of nutritional, activity, behavioral, and lifestyle tools and approaches products and services. The company also provides various digital subscription products to wellness and weight management business, which provide interactive and personalized resources that allow users to follow its weight management program through its app and web-based platform; and allows members to inspire and support each other by sharing their experiences with other people on weight health journeys. In addition, it licenses its trademarks and other intellectual property in food, beverages, and other relevant consumer products and services, as well as provides publishing services. The company was formerly known as Weight Watchers International, Inc. and changed its name to WW International, Inc. in September 2019. WW International, Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About ATA

ATA Creativity Global, together with its subsidiaries, provides educational services to individual students through its training center network in China and internationally. Its educational services include portfolio training, research-based learning, overseas study counselling, in-school art classes through cooperation with high schools and training organizations, foreign language training services, junior art education, and other related educational services to its students. The company also offers online courses for students. It provides its services through partnership with sales channels, internet and mobile advertisement, word of mouth referral, and marketing events and activities. The company was formerly known as ATA Inc. and changed its name to ATA Creativity Global in September 2019. ATA Creativity Global was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Hefei, China.