Contrasting Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) & John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY)

Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) and John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Clear Channel Outdoor and John Wiley & Sons’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Clear Channel Outdoor	-6.31%	N/A	-2.08%
John Wiley & Sons	11.90%	27.99%	8.16%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Clear Channel Outdoor and John Wiley & Sons”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Clear Channel Outdoor	$1.60 billion	0.76	$19.94 million	($0.21)	-11.36
John Wiley & Sons	$1.68 billion	1.47	$221.62 million	$3.78	12.86

John Wiley & Sons has higher revenue and earnings than Clear Channel Outdoor. Clear Channel Outdoor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than John Wiley & Sons, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Clear Channel Outdoor and John Wiley & Sons, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Clear Channel Outdoor	2	4	0	0	1.67
John Wiley & Sons	0	1	1	0	2.50

Clear Channel Outdoor currently has a consensus price target of $2.29, suggesting a potential downside of 3.90%. Given Clear Channel Outdoor’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Clear Channel Outdoor is more favorable than John Wiley & Sons.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

85.5% of Clear Channel Outdoor shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of John Wiley & Sons shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Clear Channel Outdoor shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.6% of John Wiley & Sons shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Clear Channel Outdoor has a beta of 1.95, meaning that its share price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Wiley & Sons has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

John Wiley & Sons beats Clear Channel Outdoor on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Clear Channel Outdoor

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. operates as an out-of-home advertising company in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through America, Airports, Europe-North, and Other segments. The company provides advertising services through billboards, including bulletins and posters, as well as spectaculars, which are customized display structures with videos, multi-dimensional lettering and figures, mechanical devices, moving parts, and other embellishments; street furniture displays, such as advertising surfaces on bus shelters, information kiosks, news racks, and other public structures; transit displays for rail stations and on various types of vehicles; retail displays; and airport advertising displays. It offers solutions, such as RADARView, an audience and campaign planning tool, which analyzes historical mobile location data; RADARConnect, a campaign amplification solution that delivers ads across mobile and other devices to re-target audience groups exposed to an out-of-home advertisement; RADARProof, a campaign measurement and attribution solutions which analyzes anonymized and/or aggregated data; and RADARSync, a data integration platform that uses customer data across the tools for customized application of solutions to customers' specific audience targets and goals. In addition, the company sells street furniture equipment; provides cleaning and maintenance services; and operates public bike programs, a public bicycle rental program that offers bicycles for rent to the public. The company was formerly known as Eller Media Company and changed its name to Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. in August 2005. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

About John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. engages in the provision of research and learning materials. It operates through the following segments: Research, Learning, and Held for Sale or Sold. The Research segment consists of research publishing and research solutions. The Learning segment includes academic and professional reporting lines and consists of publishing and related knowledge solutions. The Held for Sale or Sold segment offers businesses held-for-sale including Wiley Edge and CrossKnowledge, University Services and Tuition Manager, and Test Prep and Advancement Courses. The company was founded by Charles Wiley in 1807 and is headquartered in Hoboken, NJ.