Critical Analysis: Data Storage (NASDAQ:DTST) & GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group (NASDAQ:GLIBK)

Data Storage (NASDAQ:DTST) and GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group (NASDAQ:GLIBK) 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 analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Data Storage has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group has a beta of -0.85, meaning that its stock price is 185% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

11.6% of Data Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.2% of Data Storage shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Data Storage and GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Data Storage	1,247.09%	-5.48%	-4.86%
GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group	-32.53%	11.56%	5.78%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Data Storage and GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Data Storage	1	0	0	0	1.00
GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group	1	1	0	0	1.50

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Data Storage and GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Data Storage	$1.45 million	4.80	$19.20 million	($0.76)	-3.91
GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group	$1.05 billion	0.78	-$309.00 million	($11.25)	-2.02

Data Storage has higher earnings, but lower revenue than GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group. Data Storage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Data Storage beats GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Data Storage

Data Storage Corporation provides data management and cloud solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers a suite of multi-cloud IT solutions, including cyber security solutions, which comprise ezSecurity, a security solution for endpoint security, system assessments, and risk analysis, as well as IBM system protection, including Ransomware defense. The company also provides data protection and recovery solutions, such as ezVault for offsite data protection; ezRecovery for fast data recovery; ezAvailability for real-time data replication with minimal recovery objectives; and ezMirror for data mirroring at the storage level. In addition, it offers cloud hosted production systems comprising ezHost, which delivers managed cloud services; and voice and data solutions, including Nexxis, which specializes in voice over internet protocol, internet access, and data transport solutions, which comprise dedicated internet services, SD-WAN options, and a cloud-based PBX solution. The company offers its solutions and services to businesses in healthcare, banking and finance, distribution services, manufacturing, construction, education, and government industries. Data Storage Corporation was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.

About GCI Liberty, Inc. – Series C GCI Group

GCI Liberty Inc. consists of its wholly owned subsidiary GCI. The company is communications provider, providing data, voice and managed services to consumer and business customers throughout Alaska. GCI Liberty Inc. is based in ENGLEWOOD, Colo.