Analyzing Gaia (NASDAQ:GAIA) & Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA)

Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA) and Gaia (NASDAQ:GAIA) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

74.3% of Saga Communications shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.5% of Gaia shares are held by institutional investors. 21.9% of Saga Communications shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.6% of Gaia shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Saga Communications has a beta of -0.02, indicating that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gaia has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Saga Communications and Gaia, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Saga Communications	1	1	0	0	1.50
Gaia	1	0	1	0	2.00

Gaia has a consensus price target of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 175.23%. Given Gaia’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Gaia is more favorable than Saga Communications.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Saga Communications and Gaia”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Saga Communications	$110.29 million	0.65	$3.46 million	$0.05	223.80
Gaia	$90.36 million	0.91	-$5.23 million	($0.19)	-17.21

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

Profitability

This table compares Saga Communications and Gaia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Saga Communications	0.27%	0.18%	0.13%
Gaia	-4.87%	-4.80%	-3.22%

Summary

Saga Communications beats Gaia on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Saga Communications

Saga Communications, Inc., a media company, engages in acquiring, developing, and operating broadcast properties in the United States. The company's radio stations employ various programming formats, including classic hits, country, classic country, hot/soft/urban adult contemporary, oldies, classic rock, rock, and news/talk. It owns and operates FM and AM radio stations, and metro signals serving various markets. Saga Communications, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

About Gaia

Gaia, Inc. operates a digital video subscription service and online community for underserved member base in the United States, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company has a digital content library with various titles in Spanish, German, and French languages available to its subscribers on internet connected devices. Its network includes Yoga channel, which provides access to streaming yoga, Eastern arts, and other movement based classes; Transformation channel that offers content in the areas of spiritual growth, personal development, and expanded consciousness; Alternative Healing channel, which features content focused on food and nutrition, holistic healing, alternative and integrative medicines, and longevity; and Seeking Truth channel that provides access to interviews and presentations in the ancient wisdom and metaphysics genre. The company was formerly known as Gaiam, Inc. and changed its name to Gaia, Inc. in July 2016. Gaia, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Louisville, Colorado.