Analyzing SPAR Group (NASDAQ:SGRP) and Gray Media (NYSE:GTN)

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) and SPAR Group (NASDAQ:SGRP) are both communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Gray Media and SPAR Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gray Media	1	1	3	1	2.67
SPAR Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Gray Media presently has a consensus target price of $7.88, indicating a potential upside of 82.67%. Given Gray Media’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Gray Media is more favorable than SPAR Group.

Profitability

This table compares Gray Media and SPAR Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gray Media	N/A	N/A	N/A
SPAR Group	-18.51%	-107.74%	-19.90%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.6% of Gray Media shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.6% of SPAR Group shares are held by institutional investors. 8.9% of Gray Media shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 43.0% of SPAR Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Gray Media and SPAR Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gray Media	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.61)	-7.07
SPAR Group	$132.58 million	0.15	-$24.63 million	($1.01)	-0.69

Gray Media has higher earnings, but lower revenue than SPAR Group. Gray Media is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SPAR Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Gray Media beats SPAR Group on 9 of the 12 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 SPAR Group

SPAR Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides merchandising and brand marketing services in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The company offers merchandising and marketing services, such as resets and cut-ins; price and inventory audits; stock replenishment and rotation services; out of stock management; promotional event setup; and display management, as well as category management and set up services comprising category and product resets; planogram maintenance; display and shelf services; and point of purchase installation and management. It also provides remodel and retail transformation consisting of store remodels, store department resets, fixture and banner installations, pop-up store services, and store closings; and assembly and installation services, including assembly of merchandise in stores, in-store services, office setup/down-sizing services, and national in-home furniture assembly services. In addition, the company offers business analytics and insights services, such as product dashboards, stock out reporting, visit reporting, real-time service insights, and share of shelf analytics; and fulfillment and distribution services comprising distribution center staffing, point of purchase fulfillment services, kiosk prep, returns processing, picking and packing services, and inventory services. The company serves mass merchandisers; HBAs; pharmacies; and grocery, discount, dollar, convenience, cash and carry, home improvement, consumer electronics, automotive aftermarket, office supply, personal technology, beverage, household products, consumables, financial products, and independent stores. SPAR Group, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan.