Critical Comparison: Accel Entertainment (ACEL) and Its Competitors

Accel Entertainment (NYSE:ACEL – Get Rating) is one of 33 public companies in the “Amusement & recreation services” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Accel Entertainment to similar companies based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Accel Entertainment and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Accel Entertainment	0	1	3	0	2.75
Accel Entertainment Competitors	73	273	384	10	2.45

Accel Entertainment presently has a consensus target price of $16.38, indicating a potential upside of 49.82%. As a group, “Amusement & recreation services” companies have a potential upside of 51.59%. Given Accel Entertainment’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Accel Entertainment has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.3% of Accel Entertainment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.7% of shares of all “Amusement & recreation services” companies are owned by institutional investors. 18.8% of Accel Entertainment shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 25.2% of shares of all “Amusement & recreation services” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Accel Entertainment and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Accel Entertainment	5.84%	48.62%	12.77%
Accel Entertainment Competitors	-2,737.81%	-1.13%	-206.04%

Volatility and Risk

Accel Entertainment has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Accel Entertainment’s competitors have a beta of -0.33, suggesting that their average share price is 133% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Accel Entertainment and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Accel Entertainment	$734.71 million	$31.56 million	22.77
Accel Entertainment Competitors	$996.05 million	-$74.95 million	67.95

Accel Entertainment’s competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Accel Entertainment. Accel Entertainment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Accel Entertainment beats its competitors on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Accel Entertainment Company Profile (Get Rating)

Accel Entertainment, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a distributed gaming operator in the United States. It is involved in the installation, maintenance, and operation of gaming terminals; redemption devices that disburse winnings and contain automated teller machine (ATM) functionality; and other amusement devices in authorized non-casino locations, such as restaurants, bars, taverns, convenience stores, liquor stores, truck stops, and grocery stores. The company also provides licensed establishment partners gaming solutions that appeal to players who patronize those businesses. In addition, it operates stand-alone ATMs in gaming and non-gaming locations, as well as amusement devices, including jukeboxes, dartboards, pool tables, pinball machines, and other related entertainment equipment. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 13,639 video gaming terminals across 2,584 locations in Illinois. Accel Entertainment, Inc. is headquartered in Burr Ridge, Illinois.

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