Dolphin Entertainment (NASDAQ:DLPN) and E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Head-To-Head Review

Dolphin Entertainment (NASDAQ:DLPN) and E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

8.9% of Dolphin Entertainment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.8% of E.W. Scripps shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.2% of Dolphin Entertainment shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of E.W. Scripps shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Dolphin Entertainment and E.W. Scripps”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dolphin Entertainment	$56.70 million	0.23	-$3.09 million	($0.29)	-3.42
E.W. Scripps	$2.15 billion	0.16	-$100.88 million	($13.18)	-0.29

Dolphin Entertainment has higher earnings, but lower revenue than E.W. Scripps. Dolphin Entertainment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than E.W. Scripps, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Dolphin Entertainment and E.W. Scripps, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dolphin Entertainment	1	1	0	0	1.50
E.W. Scripps	1	3	1	0	2.00

E.W. Scripps has a consensus price target of $5.90, suggesting a potential upside of 56.71%. Given E.W. Scripps’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe E.W. Scripps is more favorable than Dolphin Entertainment.

Volatility & Risk

Dolphin Entertainment has a beta of 1.91, indicating that its share price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, E.W. Scripps has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Dolphin Entertainment and E.W. Scripps’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dolphin Entertainment	-6.31%	-21.68%	-3.03%
E.W. Scripps	-54.15%	12.25%	0.75%

Summary

E.W. Scripps beats Dolphin Entertainment on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dolphin Entertainment

Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLPN) is an entertainment marketing and content production company. Through its portfolio of specialized agencies, the company provides public relations, digital marketing, social media, influencer marketing, branding, and strategic communications services to clients in the entertainment, hospitality, lifestyle, and consumer sectors. The company’s marketing businesses have included 42West, The Door, and Shore Fire Media, which serve clients across film, television, music, and related industries.

About E.W. Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is an American media company that operates local television stations, national news services and digital media businesses. Its local media operations provide broadcast news, weather, sports and community programming, while its national offerings include Scripps News and Court TV. Scripps distributes content through over-the-air television, digital platforms and streaming services. The company also operates ION, a national broadcast network known for entertainment programming, as well as other television and digital brands.