Financial Comparison: Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) & New York Times (NYSE:NYT)

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) and Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares New York Times and Stagwell”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
New York Times	$2.82 billion	3.64	$343.98 million	$2.40	26.59
Stagwell	$2.91 billion	0.70	$29.10 million	$0.06	138.67

New York Times has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Stagwell. New York Times is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stagwell, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

New York Times has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stagwell has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.4% of New York Times shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.6% of Stagwell shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of New York Times shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.2% of Stagwell shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares New York Times and Stagwell’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
New York Times	13.19%	22.64%	15.58%
Stagwell	0.53%	27.30%	4.77%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for New York Times and Stagwell, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
New York Times	0	5	5	1	2.64
Stagwell	0	2	5	0	2.71

New York Times presently has a consensus price target of $84.20, indicating a potential upside of 31.96%. Stagwell has a consensus price target of $9.60, indicating a potential upside of 15.38%. Given New York Times’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe New York Times is more favorable than Stagwell.

Summary

New York Times beats Stagwell on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company’s mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast. The company also offers The Athletic, a sports media product; Cooking, a recipe product; Games, a puzzle games product; and Audio, an audio product. In addition, it offers a portfolio of advertising products and services to advertisers, such as luxury goods, technology, and financial companies, to promote products, services or brands on digital platforms in the form of display ads, audio and video, in print in the form of column-inch ads, and at live events; and Wirecutter, a product review and recommendation product. Further, the company licenses content to digital aggregators in the business, professional, academic and library markets, and third-party digital platforms; articles, graphics, and photographs, including newspapers, magazines, and websites; and for use in television, films, and books, as well as provide rights to reprint articles, and create and sell new digests. Additionally, it engages in commercial printing and distribution for third parties; and operates the NYTimes.com website. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Stagwell

Stagwell Inc. provides digital transformation, performance media and data, consumer insights and strategy, and creativity and communications services. The company operates through three segments: Integrated Agencies Network, Brand Performance Network, and Communications Network. It designs and builds digital platforms and experiences that support the delivery of content, commerce, service, and sales; creates websites, mobile applications, back-end systems, content and data management systems, and other digital environments; designs and implements technology and data strategies; and develops software and related technology products, including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled communications, research, and media technology, cookie-less data platforms for advance targeting and activation, software tools for e-commerce applications, specialty media solutions in the augmented reality space, and text messaging applications for consumer engagement. The company also provides audience analysis, and media buying and planning services; and strategic insights and guidance services that offers business content, product, communications, and media strategies. In addition, it offers strategy development, advertising creation, live events, immersive digital experiences, cross platform engagement, and social media content services; and leadership, investor and financial relations, social media, executive positioning and visibility, strategic communication, public relation, and public affair services. Further, the company provides Stagwell Marketing Cloud, a suite of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and data-as-a-service (DaaS) technology solutions, including research and insights, communications technology, advance media platform, and media studios; and technology-driven solutions for in-house marketers. Stagwell Inc. is headquartered in New York, New York.