Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT) & Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C (NASDAQ:FWONK) Critical Review

Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C (NASDAQ:FWONK) and Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.3% of Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Versant shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C and Versant, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C	0	4	7	0	2.64
Versant	1	6	2	1	2.30

Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C currently has a consensus target price of $118.44, indicating a potential upside of 6.54%. Versant has a consensus target price of $41.71, indicating a potential upside of 15.42%. Given Versant’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Versant is more favorable than Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C and Versant”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C	$4.48 billion	5.57	$195.25 million	$0.87	127.78
Versant	$6.69 billion	0.74	$930.00 million	$3.48	10.39

Versant has higher revenue and earnings than Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C. Versant is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C and Versant’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C	N/A	N/A	N/A
Versant	11.09%	8.32%	5.78%

Summary

Versant beats Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Formula One Series C

Liberty Media Corporation’s Liberty Formula One Series C stock (NASDAQ: FWONK) is a tracking stock associated with the company’s Formula One Group. The group’s principal business is Formula 1, the international motorsport series, which organizes and promotes races and manages the championship’s commercial rights, including media, sponsorship, licensing and race-promotion activities. Formula 1 has held world championship races since 1950 and serves a global audience, with events staged across multiple continents.

About Versant

Versant is a media and entertainment company formed from Comcast’s separation of several NBCUniversal cable networks and digital businesses. Its portfolio includes news brands CNBC and MS NOW, along with entertainment and sports networks such as USA Network, Syfy, E!, Oxygen and Golf Channel. The company also operates digital and consumer services including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine. Through its television networks and online platforms, Versant serves audiences primarily in the United States, with some brands and services reaching international markets.