Cinemark (NYSE:CNK – Get Free Report) and Skydance (NYSE:SKYD – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and profitability.
Volatility and Risk
Cinemark has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Skydance has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
73.0% of Skydance shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Cinemark shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Skydance shares are owned by 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.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Cinemark and Skydance, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Cinemark | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 2.73 |
| Skydance | 8 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 2.00 |
Cinemark currently has a consensus target price of $38.43, indicating a potential downside of 1.60%. Skydance has a consensus target price of $6.02, indicating a potential downside of 19.02%. Given Cinemark’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cinemark is more favorable than Skydance.
Profitability
This table compares Cinemark and Skydance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Cinemark | 6.44% | 50.94% | 4.88% |
| Skydance | -2.13% | 4.11% | 1.21% |
Dividends
Cinemark pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Skydance pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Cinemark pays out 21.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Skydance pays out 69.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Cinemark and Skydance”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Cinemark | $3.12 billion | 1.45 | $138.20 million | $1.69 | 23.11 |
| Skydance | $28.89 billion | 0.29 | -$621.00 million | $0.29 | 25.62 |
Cinemark has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Skydance. Cinemark is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Skydance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Cinemark beats Skydance on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Cinemark
Cinemark Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the motion picture exhibition business. As of February 16, 2024, it operated 501 theatres with 5,719 screens in 42 states and 13 countries in South and Central America. Cinemark Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
About Skydance
Paramount Global is a media and entertainment company which creates premium content and experiences for audiences. The company’s portfolio of consumer brands includes CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount , Pluto TV and Simon & Schuster, among others. Paramount Global, formerly known as ViacomCBS Inc., is based in NEW YORK.
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