Global Business Travel Group (NYSE:GBTG – Get Free Report) and Meridian (NASDAQ:MRDN – Get Free Report) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and earnings.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
82.5% of Global Business Travel Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.7% of Meridian shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Global Business Travel Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.0% of Meridian 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.
Risk and Volatility
Global Business Travel Group has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Meridian has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Global Business Travel Group | 2.77% | 2.47% | 0.80% |
| Meridian | -41.41% | -117.87% | -58.87% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Global Business Travel Group and Meridian”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Global Business Travel Group | $2.72 billion | 1.82 | $109.00 million | $0.17 | 55.76 |
| Meridian | $182.86 million | 0.94 | -$89.90 million | ($6.74) | -2.01 |
Global Business Travel Group has higher revenue and earnings than Meridian. Meridian is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Global Business Travel Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Global Business Travel Group and Meridian, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Global Business Travel Group | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2.25 |
| Meridian | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Global Business Travel Group currently has a consensus target price of $8.90, indicating a potential downside of 6.12%. Meridian has a consensus target price of $21.60, indicating a potential upside of 59.41%. Given Meridian’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Meridian is more favorable than Global Business Travel Group.
Summary
Global Business Travel Group beats Meridian on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Global Business Travel Group
Global Business Travel Group, Inc. provides business-to-business (B2B) travel platform in the United States and internationally. The company's platform offers a suite of technology-enabled solutions to business travelers and clients; travel content suppliers, such as airlines, hotels, ground transportation, and aggregators; and third-party travel agencies. It also provides consulting, meetings and events planning, and outsourced services. Global Business Travel Group, Inc. is based in New York, New York.
About Meridian
Meridian Holdings Inc is engaged in the online gaming and betting business, providing sports betting, online casino, and gaming operations across multiple jurisdictions in Europe, Africa, and Central and South America. The company has three reportable segments: MeridianBet Group, GMAG, and RKings & CFAC. The MeridianBet Group segment includes retail and online sports betting, casinos, and related gaming operations. The GMAG segment focuses on the resale of third-party gaming content, mainly serving customers in the Asia-Pacific region. The RKings & CFAC segment is involved in pay-to-enter prize competitions and trade promotions conducted in the United Kingdom and Australia. It generates the majority of its revenue from the MeridianBet Group segment.
Receive News & Ratings for Global Business Travel Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Global Business Travel Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
