TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT) vs. Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) Critical Analysis

TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT) and Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TechTarget and Clear Channel Outdoor”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TechTarget	$486.79 million	0.60	-$1.01 billion	($7.73)	-0.53
Clear Channel Outdoor	$1.60 billion	0.76	$19.94 million	($0.18)	-13.36

Clear Channel Outdoor has higher revenue and earnings than TechTarget. Clear Channel Outdoor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TechTarget, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares TechTarget and Clear Channel Outdoor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TechTarget	-113.65%	5.19%	3.18%
Clear Channel Outdoor	-5.55%	N/A	-2.41%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.5% of TechTarget shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.5% of Clear Channel Outdoor shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of TechTarget shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.2% of Clear Channel Outdoor shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

TechTarget has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clear Channel Outdoor has a beta of 1.96, indicating that its share price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for TechTarget and Clear Channel Outdoor, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TechTarget	1	0	2	0	2.33
Clear Channel Outdoor	2	5	0	0	1.71

TechTarget presently has a consensus price target of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 182.56%. Clear Channel Outdoor has a consensus price target of $2.29, indicating a potential downside of 4.70%. Given TechTarget’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe TechTarget is more favorable than Clear Channel Outdoor.

About TechTarget

TechTarget, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides marketing and sales services that deliver business impact for business-to-business technology companies in North America and internationally. The company's service enables technology vendors to identify, reach, and influence corporate information technology (IT) decision-makers actively researching specific IT purchases; and customized marketing programs that integrate demand generation, brand advertising techniques, and content curation and creation. It offers business to business services, such as IT Deal Alert, a suite of data, software, and services comprising Priority Engine and Qualified Sales Opportunities to identify and prioritize accounts and individuals actively researching new technology purchases or upgrades; demand solutions provides marketing programs, including white papers, webcasts, podcasts, videocasts, virtual trade shows, and content sponsorships; brand solutions which includes on-network banner advertising and digital sponsorships, off-network banner targeting, and microsites and related formats; custom content creation that delivers market insights and guidance to technology companies and off-the-shelf editorial sponsorship products on topics aligned to customer markets; and BrightTALK platform which allows customers to create, host and promote webinars, virtual events, and video content. In addition, the company operates websites, webinars, and virtual event channels that focus on a specific IT sector, such as storage, security, or networking; and enables registered members to conduct their pre-purchase research by accessing vendor supplied content through its virtual event and webinar channels, and website networks. TechTarget, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.

About Clear Channel Outdoor

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. operates as an out-of-home advertising company in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through America, Airports, Europe-North, and Other segments. The company provides advertising services through billboards, including bulletins and posters, as well as spectaculars, which are customized display structures with videos, multi-dimensional lettering and figures, mechanical devices, moving parts, and other embellishments; street furniture displays, such as advertising surfaces on bus shelters, information kiosks, news racks, and other public structures; transit displays for rail stations and on various types of vehicles; retail displays; and airport advertising displays. It offers solutions, such as RADARView, an audience and campaign planning tool, which analyzes historical mobile location data; RADARConnect, a campaign amplification solution that delivers ads across mobile and other devices to re-target audience groups exposed to an out-of-home advertisement; RADARProof, a campaign measurement and attribution solutions which analyzes anonymized and/or aggregated data; and RADARSync, a data integration platform that uses customer data across the tools for customized application of solutions to customers' specific audience targets and goals. In addition, the company sells street furniture equipment; provides cleaning and maintenance services; and operates public bike programs, a public bicycle rental program that offers bicycles for rent to the public. The company was formerly known as Eller Media Company and changed its name to Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. in August 2005. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.