Head-To-Head Analysis: MediaCo (NASDAQ:MDIA) & Gray Media (NYSE:GTN)

MediaCo (NASDAQ:MDIA) and Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MediaCo and Gray Media”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MediaCo	$136.69 million	0.57	-$68.65 million	($0.84)	-1.14
Gray Media	$3.10 billion	0.17	-$85.00 million	($0.61)	-8.26

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for MediaCo and Gray Media, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MediaCo	1	0	0	0	1.00
Gray Media	1	2	3	0	2.33

Gray Media has a consensus price target of $7.88, suggesting a potential upside of 56.28%. Given Gray Media’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Gray Media is more favorable than MediaCo.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MediaCo	N/A	N/A	N/A
Gray Media	-0.83%	-1.12%	-0.23%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

64.0% of MediaCo shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Gray Media shares are held by institutional investors. 9.8% of MediaCo 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

MediaCo beats Gray Media on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MediaCo

MediaCo Holding Inc. owns and operates radio stations in the United States. The company engages in the operation of WQHT-FM and WBLS-FM radio stations in the New York City area. It also offers digital advertising, and events, which includes sponsorships, ticket sales, licensing, and syndication services. MediaCo Holding Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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.