Critical Contrast: Super League Enterprise (NASDAQ:SLE) vs. Gray Media (NYSE:GTN)

Super League Enterprise (NASDAQ:SLE) and Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) are both small-cap 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.

Volatility and Risk

Super League Enterprise has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gray Media has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Super League Enterprise and Gray Media’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Super League Enterprise	-185.60%	-201.00%	-125.49%
Gray Media	-0.83%	-1.12%	-0.23%

Dividends

Super League Enterprise pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.4%. Gray Media pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Super League Enterprise pays out -1.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Gray Media pays out -52.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Super League Enterprise and Gray Media, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Super League Enterprise	1	0	2	0	2.33
Gray Media	1	1	3	1	2.67

Gray Media has a consensus price target of $7.88, indicating a potential upside of 75.16%. Given Gray Media’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Gray Media is more favorable than Super League Enterprise.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Super League Enterprise and Gray Media”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Super League Enterprise	$11.63 million	0.71	-$20.72 million	($41.52)	-0.12
Gray Media	$3.10 billion	0.15	-$85.00 million	($0.61)	-7.37

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.1% of Super League Enterprise shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Gray Media shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Super League Enterprise shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Gray Media shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Gray Media beats Super League Enterprise on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Super League Enterprise

Super League Enterprise, Inc. creates and publishes content and media solutions across immersive platforms in the United States and internationally. The company offers access to audiences who gather in immersive digital spaces to socialize, play, explore, collaborate, shop, learn, and create. It also provides a range of development, distribution, monetization, and optimization capabilities designed to engage users through dynamic and energized programs. Its proprietary cloud-based platform offers dynamic media technology; metaverse game experience and tournament technology; and fully remote production and livestream broadcast technology. In addition, the company operates Minecraft server world for more casual players on consoles and tablets. Further, it sells on-platform media and analytics products, and influencer marketing campaign sales to third-party brands and agencies; game development and custom game experiences within its owned and affiliate game worlds; and production, curation and distribution of entertainment content for its network of digital channels and media and entertainment partner channels. The company was formerly known as Super League Gaming, Inc. and changed its name to Super League Enterprise, Inc. in September 2023. Super League Enterprise, Inc. was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

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.