Gray Media (NYSE:GTN – Get Free Report) and Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW – Get Free Report) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Profitability
This table compares Gray Media and Stagwell’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Gray Media | -0.83% | -1.12% | -0.23% |
| Stagwell | 0.53% | 27.30% | 4.77% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings for Gray Media and Stagwell, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Gray Media | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2.67 |
| Stagwell | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2.71 |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
78.6% of Gray Media shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.6% of Stagwell shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.9% of Gray Media shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.2% of Stagwell shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk and Volatility
Gray Media has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Stagwell has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Gray Media and Stagwell”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Gray Media | $3.10 billion | 0.15 | -$85.00 million | ($0.61) | -7.38 |
| Stagwell | $2.91 billion | 0.71 | $29.10 million | $0.06 | 141.00 |
Stagwell has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Gray Media. Gray Media is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stagwell, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Stagwell beats Gray Media on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Gray Media
Gray Television, Inc., a television broadcasting company, owns and/or operates television stations and digital assets in the United States. It also broadcasts secondary digital channels affiliated to ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX, as well as various other networks and program services, including CW Plus Network, MY Network, the MeTV Network, Circle, Telemundo, THE365, and Outlaw; and local news/weather channels in various markets. It owns and operates television stations and digital assets that serve television markets in the United States. The company was formerly known as Gray Communications Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Gray Television, Inc. in August 2002. Gray Television, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
About Stagwell
Stagwell Inc. provides digital transformation, performance media and data, consumer insights and strategy, and creativity and communications services. The company operates through three segments: Integrated Agencies Network, Brand Performance Network, and Communications Network. It designs and builds digital platforms and experiences that support the delivery of content, commerce, service, and sales; creates websites, mobile applications, back-end systems, content and data management systems, and other digital environments; designs and implements technology and data strategies; and develops software and related technology products, including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled communications, research, and media technology, cookie-less data platforms for advance targeting and activation, software tools for e-commerce applications, specialty media solutions in the augmented reality space, and text messaging applications for consumer engagement. The company also provides audience analysis, and media buying and planning services; and strategic insights and guidance services that offers business content, product, communications, and media strategies. In addition, it offers strategy development, advertising creation, live events, immersive digital experiences, cross platform engagement, and social media content services; and leadership, investor and financial relations, social media, executive positioning and visibility, strategic communication, public relation, and public affair services. Further, the company provides Stagwell Marketing Cloud, a suite of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and data-as-a-service (DaaS) technology solutions, including research and insights, communications technology, advance media platform, and media studios; and technology-driven solutions for in-house marketers. Stagwell Inc. is headquartered in New York, New York.
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