USA Today (NYSE:TDAY – Get Free Report) and Perion Network (NASDAQ:PERI – Get Free Report) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
76.7% of USA Today shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.1% of Perion Network shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of USA Today shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Perion Network 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.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for USA Today and Perion Network, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| USA Today | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Perion Network | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.50 |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares USA Today and Perion Network”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| USA Today | $2.30 billion | 0.55 | $1.75 million | $0.06 | 145.00 |
| Perion Network | $439.93 million | 0.85 | -$7.93 million | ($0.25) | -38.16 |
USA Today has higher revenue and earnings than Perion Network. Perion Network is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than USA Today, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
USA Today has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perion Network has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares USA Today and Perion Network’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| USA Today | 1.27% | 21.75% | 2.09% |
| Perion Network | -2.17% | 3.34% | 2.50% |
Summary
USA Today beats Perion Network on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About USA Today
Gannett Co Inc. invests in, owns, and operates local media assets in the United States. The company’s principal products include 125 daily newspapers with total paid circulation of approximately 1.4 million; 314 weekly newspapers with total paid circulation of approximately 315,000 and total free circulation of approximately 1.9 million; 124 shoppers with total circulation of approximately 3.0 million; and 538 locally-focused Websites, including Internet and mobile devices with approximately 224 million page views per month. Its principal products also comprise 2 yellow page directories with a total distribution of approximately 230,000 that cover a population of approximately 411,000 people; 68 business publications; and Propel digital marketing and business services. In addition, the company produces niche publications that address specific local market interests, such as recreation, sports, healthcare, and real estate. Further, it provides print and online products that offer local market news and information on various topics comprising local news and politics, community and regional events, youth sports, opinion and editorial pages, local schools, obituaries, weddings, and police reports, as well as print and digital advertising products, as well as commercial printing and regional business-oriented publications services. The company reaches approximately 20 million people per week; and serves approximately 220,000 business customers. New Media Investment Group Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in New York, New York.
About Perion Network
Perion Network Ltd. provides digital advertising solutions to brands, agencies, and publishers in North America, Europe, and internationally. It offers Wildfire, a content monetization platform; search monetization solutions, including website monetization, search mediation, and app monetization; and cross-channel digital advertising software as a service platform. The company also provides supply management platform; demand management platform for campaign planning and design; analytics platform, which provides information and performance insights; creative platform, a robust media platform; and an AI platform that uses machine learning to bring intelligence to the various phases of campaigns. In addition, it offers an actionable performance monitoring platform to support the various phases of campaign management; an online video player and integrated ad server to upload, manage, and stream video content; content monetization system, which integrates ads within the content layouts at the page level. Further, the company provides a publisher management system that provides analytics and performance optimization tools, as well as reports; search-demand management systems; monetization products that integrate and onboards demand vendors; and AI Systems. Additionally, it offers Intelligent HUB (iHUB), which connects the supply and demand sides of the marketplace; and strategic optimization of relevant traits (SORT), a provisional patent technology that eliminates the need for cookies. The company was formerly known as IncrediMail Ltd. and changed its name to Perion Network Ltd. in November 2011. Perion Network Ltd. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Holon, Israel.
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