Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO – Get Free Report) and Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK – Get Free Report) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Risk & Volatility
Hello Group has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shutterstock has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Hello Group and Shutterstock’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Hello Group | 11.02% | 10.43% | 8.41% |
| Shutterstock | -22.87% | 13.61% | 5.49% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Hello Group and Shutterstock”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Hello Group | $1.48 billion | 0.34 | $114.97 million | $0.98 | 4.79 |
| Shutterstock | $989.92 million | 0.17 | $45.50 million | ($5.65) | -0.78 |
Hello Group has higher revenue and earnings than Shutterstock. Shutterstock is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hello Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Hello Group and Shutterstock, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Hello Group | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Shutterstock | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Hello Group currently has a consensus target price of $9.05, indicating a potential upside of 92.96%. Shutterstock has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 57.84%. Given Hello Group’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Hello Group is more favorable than Shutterstock.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
51.0% of Hello Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Shutterstock shares are owned by institutional investors. 61.4% of Hello Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 32.3% of Shutterstock shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Hello Group beats Shutterstock on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Hello Group
Hello Group Inc. provides mobile-based social and entertainment services in the People's Republic of China. It operates in three segments: Momo, Tantan, and QOOL. The company offers Momo, a mobile application that connects people and facilitates social interactions based on location, interests, and various online recreational activities, including live talent shows, short videos, social games, as well as other video- and audio-based interactive experiences, such as online parties, mobile karaoke and user participated reality shows; Tantan, a social and dating application; and other applications under the Hertz, Soulchill, Duidui, and Tietie names. The company also provides livestream services for various content and activities comprising talent shows, such as singing, dancing, and talk shows, as well as casual chatting, and other forms of interactions between broadcasters and viewers; value-added services; advertising and marketing services; and mobile games. The company was formerly known as Momo Inc. and changed its name to Hello Group Inc. in August 2021. Hello Group Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.
About Shutterstock
Shutterstock, Inc. provides platform to connect brands and businesses to high quality content in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers image services consisting of photographs, vectors, and illustrations, which is used in visual communications, such as websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications, and others; footage services, including video clips, filmed by industry experts and cinema grade video effects in HD and 4K formats that are integrated into websites, social media, marketing campaigns, and cinematic productions; and music services comprising music tracks and sound effects, which are used to complement images and footage. It also provides 3 dimensional models consisting of 3D models used in various industries, such as advertising, media and video production, gaming, retail, education, design, and architecture; and generative AI content comprising images generated from algorithms trained with ethically sourced content. The company offers its services under the Shutterstock, Pond5, TurboSquid, PicMonkey, PremiumBeat, Splash News, Bigstock, and Offset brand names. In addition, it operates a collection of graphics interchange format visuals and stickers that supplies casual conversational content. The company serves corporate professionals and organizations, media and broadcast companies, and small and medium-sized businesses, and individual creators through digital, live sales, and client management channels. Shutterstock, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
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