Critical Review: Harte Hanks (HHS) & The Competition

Harte Hanks (NASDAQ:HHS) is one of 259 public companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Harte Hanks to similar businesses based on the strength of its profitability, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Harte Hanks and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Harte Hanks	$159.57 million	-$810,000.00	-5.61
Harte Hanks Competitors	$2.97 billion	-$7.90 million	17.59

Harte Hanks’ rivals have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Harte Hanks. Harte Hanks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

Harte Hanks has a beta of -0.03, meaning that its stock price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Harte Hanks’ rivals have a beta of 1.02, meaning that their average stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

33.8% of Harte Hanks shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.8% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 9.6% of Harte Hanks shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.0% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Harte Hanks and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Harte Hanks	-3.70%	-30.14%	-6.30%
Harte Hanks Competitors	-20.06%	-48.61%	-5.10%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Harte Hanks and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Harte Hanks	1	0	0	0	1.00
Harte Hanks Competitors	2226	6843	10807	473	2.47

As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 19.51%. Given Harte Hanks’ rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Harte Hanks has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Summary

Harte Hanks rivals beat Harte Hanks on 10 of the 13 factors compared.

About Harte Hanks

Harte-Hanks, Inc. engages in the provision of marketing solutions. It specializes in consulting, data analytics, creative services, digital and social media, marketing strategy, marketing technology, and other related services. It supports a range of customers in the field of technology, travel and leisure, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, automotive, finance, and retail. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in San Antonio, TX.