Contrasting MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Spree Acquisition Corp. 1 (NYSE:SHAP)

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Spree Acquisition Corp. 1 (NYSE:SHAP) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.4% of MediaAlpha shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.9% of Spree Acquisition Corp. 1 shares are held by institutional investors. 11.5% of MediaAlpha shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 58.4% of Spree Acquisition Corp. 1 shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for MediaAlpha and Spree Acquisition Corp. 1, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MediaAlpha	0	1	5	0	2.83
Spree Acquisition Corp. 1	0	0	0	0	0.00

MediaAlpha presently has a consensus price target of $17.50, suggesting a potential upside of 94.86%. Given MediaAlpha’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe MediaAlpha is more favorable than Spree Acquisition Corp. 1.

Volatility & Risk

MediaAlpha has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Spree Acquisition Corp. 1 has a beta of -0.02, suggesting that its share price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares MediaAlpha and Spree Acquisition Corp. 1″s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MediaAlpha	$864.70 million	0.70	-$40.42 million	$0.30	29.94
Spree Acquisition Corp. 1	N/A	N/A	$4.35 million	N/A	N/A

Spree Acquisition Corp. 1 has lower revenue, but higher earnings than MediaAlpha.

Profitability

This table compares MediaAlpha and Spree Acquisition Corp. 1’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MediaAlpha	1.41%	-11.98%	5.19%
Spree Acquisition Corp. 1	N/A	-22.17%	6.72%

Summary

MediaAlpha beats Spree Acquisition Corp. 1 on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Spree Acquisition Corp. 1

Spree Acquisition Corp. 1 Limited does not have significant operations. It focuses on effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses in the mobility-related technology businesses. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.