Gray Media (NYSE:GTN – Get Free Report) and Harte Hanks (NASDAQ:HHS – Get Free Report) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Gray Media and Harte Hanks, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Gray Media | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Harte Hanks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Gray Media currently has a consensus price target of $7.88, suggesting a potential upside of 61.97%. Given Gray Media’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Gray Media is more favorable than Harte Hanks.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Gray Media | $3.10 billion | 0.16 | -$85.00 million | ($0.61) | -7.97 |
| Harte Hanks | $159.57 million | 0.20 | -$810,000.00 | ($0.76) | -5.63 |
Harte Hanks has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Gray Media. Gray Media is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Harte Hanks, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Gray Media has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Harte Hanks has a beta of 0.09, suggesting that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
78.6% of Gray Media shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.8% of Harte Hanks shares are held by institutional investors. 8.9% of Gray Media shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.6% of Harte Hanks shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Gray Media and Harte Hanks’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Gray Media | -0.83% | -1.12% | -0.23% |
| Harte Hanks | -3.70% | -30.14% | -6.30% |
Summary
Gray Media beats Harte Hanks on 10 of the 14 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 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.
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