Analyzing News (NASDAQ:NWS) & Harte Hanks (NASDAQ:HHS)

Harte Hanks (NASDAQ:HHS) and News (NASDAQ:NWS) are both communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Harte Hanks and News, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Harte Hanks	1	0	0	0	1.00
News	0	0	1	1	3.50

Volatility and Risk

Harte Hanks has a beta of 0.09, meaning that its share price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, News has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

33.8% of Harte Hanks shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.6% of News shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.6% of Harte Hanks shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of News shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Harte Hanks and News’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Harte Hanks	-3.70%	-30.14%	-6.30%
News	6.35%	7.09%	4.27%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Harte Hanks and News”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Harte Hanks	$159.57 million	0.20	-$810,000.00	($0.76)	-5.59
News	$9.03 billion	1.98	$573.00 million	$1.03	32.05

News has higher revenue and earnings than Harte Hanks. Harte Hanks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than News, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

News beats Harte Hanks on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Harte Hanks

Harte-Hanks, Inc. engages in the provision of marketing solutions. It specializes in consulting, data analytics, creative services, digital and social media, marketing strategy, marketing technology, and other related services. It supports a range of customers in the field of technology, travel and leisure, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, automotive, finance, and retail. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in San Antonio, TX.

About News

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other. The company distributes content and data products, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, Factiva, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, Dow Jones Newswires, and Dow Jones Energy through various media channels, such as newspapers, newswires, websites, mobile apps, newsletters, magazines, proprietary databases, live journalism, video, and podcasts. It also owns and operates Monday to Friday, Saturday and Sunday, weekly, and bi-weekly newspapers comprising The Australian, The Weekend Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, The Sunday Mail, The Advertiser, Sunday Mail, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday, The Times, The Sunday Times, and New York Post, as well as digital mastheads and other websites. In addition, the company publishes general fiction, nonfiction, children’s, and religious books; provides sports, entertainment, and news services to pay-TV and streaming subscribers, and other commercial licensees through satellite and internet distribution; and broadcasts rights to live sporting events. Further, it offers property and property-related advertising and services on its websites and mobile applications; digital real estate services; and financial services. News Corporation was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, New York.