Head to Head Comparison: Manchester United (NYSE:MANU) & AFC Ajax (OTCMKTS:AFCJF)

Manchester United (NYSE:MANU) and AFC Ajax (OTCMKTS:AFCJF) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Manchester United and AFC Ajax’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Manchester United	$776.37 million	4.19	-$153.76 million	($0.73)	-27.03
AFC Ajax	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.99	12.53

AFC Ajax has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Manchester United. Manchester United is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AFC Ajax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Manchester United and AFC Ajax, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manchester United	0	1	0	0	2.00
AFC Ajax	0	0	0	0	N/A

Manchester United currently has a consensus price target of $25.50, suggesting a potential upside of 29.15%. Given Manchester United’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Manchester United is more favorable than AFC Ajax.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

23.3% of Manchester United shares are held by institutional investors. 68.6% of Manchester United shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Manchester United and AFC Ajax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manchester United	-16.59%	-46.66%	-3.77%
AFC Ajax	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

AFC Ajax beats Manchester United on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Manchester United

Manchester United plc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a professional sports team in the United Kingdom. It operates Manchester United Football Club, a professional football club. The company develops marketing and sponsorship relationships with international and regional companies to leverage its brand. It also markets and sells sports apparel, training and leisure wear, and other clothing featuring the Manchester United brand; and sells other licensed products, such as coffee mugs and bed spreads featuring the Manchester United brand and trademarks, as well as distributes these products through Manchester United branded retail centers and e-commerce platforms, and through the company's partners' wholesale distribution channels. In addition, the company distributes live football content directly, as well as through commercial partners; broadcasts television rights relating to the Premier League, Union of European Football Associations club competitions, and other competitions; and delivers Manchester United programming through MUTV television channel to territories worldwide. Further, it offers a direct to consumer subscription mobile application; and operates Old Trafford, a sports venue with 74,240 seats, as well as invests in properties. The company was formerly known as Manchester United Ltd. changed its name to Manchester United plc in August 2012. Manchester United plc was founded in 1878 and is based in Manchester, the United Kingdom.

About AFC Ajax

AFC Ajax NV operates a football club primarily in the Netherlands. The company also operates a stadium and an youth academy. In addition, it sells mobile tickets online. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.