Head to Head Comparison: Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) vs. Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gray Media	-0.83%	-1.12%	-0.23%
Fluent	-11.48%	-155.09%	-30.36%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Gray Media and Fluent”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gray Media	$3.15 billion	0.16	-$85.00 million	($0.61)	-7.90
Fluent	$202.15 million	0.44	-$27.17 million	($0.77)	-3.66

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

Volatility and Risk

Gray Media has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Fluent has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.6% of Gray Media shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.3% of Fluent shares are held by institutional investors. 8.9% of Gray Media shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 38.4% of Fluent shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Gray Media and Fluent, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gray Media	1	1	3	1	2.67
Fluent	0	1	1	0	2.50

Gray Media currently has a consensus target price of $7.88, indicating a potential upside of 63.52%. Fluent has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 77.30%. Given Fluent’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Fluent is more favorable than Gray Media.

Summary

Gray Media beats Fluent on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Fluent

Fluent, Inc. provides data-driven digital marketing services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Fluent and All Other segments. It offers customer acquisition services by operating digital marketing campaigns, through which the company connects its advertiser clients with consumers. The company also delivers data and performance-based marketing executions to various consumer brands, direct marketers, and agencies across a range of industries, including financial products and services, media and entertainment, health and life sciences, retail and consumer, and staffing and recruitment. Fluent, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in New York, New York.