Head-To-Head Contrast: Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) and Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI)

Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) and Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sirius XM and Gray Media”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sirius XM	$8.70 billion	0.79	-$1.67 billion	$2.83	7.25
Gray Media	$3.64 billion	0.13	$375.00 million	$0.41	11.72

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.7% of Sirius XM shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Gray Media shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Sirius XM shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of Gray Media shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Sirius XM has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gray Media has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Sirius XM pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Gray Media pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Sirius XM pays out 38.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Gray Media pays out 78.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sirius XM has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Sirius XM and Gray Media, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sirius XM	3	3	3	1	2.20
Gray Media	1	1	3	0	2.40

Sirius XM currently has a consensus price target of $24.29, indicating a potential upside of 18.41%. Gray Media has a consensus price target of $7.25, indicating a potential upside of 50.92%. Given Gray Media’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Gray Media is more favorable than Sirius XM.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sirius XM	11.61%	8.79%	3.62%
Gray Media	2.81%	5.50%	1.17%

Summary

Sirius XM beats Gray Media on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sirius XM

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. operates as an audio entertainment company in North America. It operates in two segments, Sirius XM, and Pandora and Off-platform. The company’s Sirius XM segment provides music, sports, entertainment, comedy, talk, news, traffic and weather channels, and other content, as well as podcast and infotainment services on subscription fee basis; and live, curated, and exclusive and on demand programming services through satellite radio systems and streamed through applications for mobile and home devices, and other consumer electronic equipment. This segment also distributes satellite radios through automakers and retailers, as well as its website; podcasts, including true crime, news, politics, music, comedy, sports, and entertainment; and offers location-based services through two-way wireless connectivity, including safety, security, convenience, maintenance and data, remote vehicles diagnostic, and stolen or parked vehicle locator services. In addition, this segment provides music channels on the DISH Network satellite television service as a programming package; Travel Link, a suite of data services that include graphical weather, fuel prices, sports schedule and scores, and movie listings; graphic information related to road closings, traffic flow, and incident data for consumers with in-vehicle navigation systems; real-time weather services in vehicles, boats, and planes; and music programming and commercial-free music services for office, restaurants, and other business. Its Pandora and Off-platform segment operates music, comedy, and podcast streaming platform, which offers personalized experience for listener through computers, tablets, mobile devices, vehicle speakers, and connected devices; and provides advertising services. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in New York.

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.