Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) and Echostar (NASDAQ:ECHO) Financial Analysis

Echostar (NASDAQ:ECHO) and Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Echostar and Gray Media, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Echostar	1	0	7	2	3.00
Gray Media	1	2	3	0	2.33

Echostar currently has a consensus target price of $138.56, indicating a potential upside of 35.92%. Gray Media has a consensus target price of $7.88, indicating a potential upside of 67.38%. Given Gray Media’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Gray Media is more favorable than Echostar.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Echostar	-38.71%	-1.28%	-0.25%
Gray Media	-0.83%	-1.12%	-0.23%

Risk & Volatility

Echostar has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gray Media has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Echostar	$15.00 billion	1.97	-$14.50 billion	($24.92)	-4.09
Gray Media	$3.10 billion	0.16	-$85.00 million	($0.61)	-7.71

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.6% of Echostar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Gray Media shares are held by institutional investors. 54.6% of Echostar shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Gray Media shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Echostar beats Gray Media on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Echostar

EchoStar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides networking technologies and services worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Hughes and EchoStar Satellite Services (ESS). The Hughes segment offers broadband network technologies, managed services, equipment, hardware, satellite services, and communications solutions to government and enterprise customers. The segment also designs, provides, and installs gateway and terminal equipment to customers for other satellite systems. In addition, it designs, develops, constructs, and provides telecommunication networks comprising satellite ground segment systems and terminals to mobile system operators and enterprise customers. Further, this segment designs, provides, and installs gateway and terminal equipment to customers for other satellite systems, as well as offers satellite ground segment systems and terminals for other satellite systems, including mobile system operators. The ESS segment provides satellite services using its owned and leased in-orbit satellites and related licenses to offer satellite services on a full-time and/or occasional-use basis to the U.S. government service providers, internet service providers, broadcast news organizations, content providers, and private enterprise customers. It serves customers in North America, South and Central America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, India, and the Middle East. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.

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.