Reviewing Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) and Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU)

Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) and Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Optimum Communications and Cumulus Media, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Optimum Communications	4	5	0	0	1.56
Cumulus Media	0	1	0	0	2.00

Optimum Communications currently has a consensus target price of $0.92, indicating a potential downside of 3.35%. Given Optimum Communications’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Optimum Communications is more favorable than Cumulus Media.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.8% of Optimum Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.7% of Cumulus Media shares are owned by institutional investors. 43.4% of Optimum Communications shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of Cumulus Media shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Optimum Communications has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cumulus Media has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Optimum Communications and Cumulus Media’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Optimum Communications	-58.15%	N/A	-0.70%
Cumulus Media	-18.11%	-30.27%	-5.62%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Optimum Communications and Cumulus Media”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Optimum Communications	$8.59 billion	0.03	-$1.87 billion	($10.39)	-0.09
Cumulus Media	$827.08 million	0.00	-$117.88 million	($17.39)	-0.00

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

Summary

Optimum Communications beats Cumulus Media on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Optimum Communications

Altice USA, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to approximately five million residential and business customers. The company’s video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications. It also provides voice over Internet protocol telephone services; and mobile services, such as data, talk, and text. In addition, the company offers Ethernet, data transport, IP-based virtual private networks, Internet access, and telephony services; hosted telephony services, managed Wi-Fi, managed desktop and server backup, and collaboration services comprising audio and web conferencing; fiber-to-the-tower services to wireless carriers; data services consisting of wide area networking and dedicated data access, as well as wireless mesh networks; and enterprise class telephone services that include traditional multi-line phone service. Further, it provides business e-mail, hosted private branch exchange, web space storage, and network security monitoring; and international calling and toll free numbers. Additionally, the company offers audience-based and IP-authenticated cross-screen advertising solutions; and television and digital advertising services, as well as operates news channels under the News 12 Networks, Cheddar, and i24NEWS names. It also provides broadband communications and video services under the Optimum and Suddenlink brands. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Long Island City, New York. Altice USA, Inc. is a subsidiary of Next Alt. S.a.r.l.

About Cumulus Media

Cumulus Media Inc., an audio-first media company, owns and operates radio stations in the United States. It owns and operates stations in various markets, as well as affiliated stations through Westwood One. The company's content portfolio includes sports, news, talk, and entertainment programming from various brands, including the NFL, the NCAA, the Masters, CNN, AP News, the Academy of Country Music Awards, and other partners. In addition, the company provides digital marketing services, such as email marketing, geo-targeted display and video solutions, website and microsite building, hosting, social media management, reputation and listing management, and search engine marketing and optimization; influencers, audio solutions, research and insights, and live event services; and advertising performance guarantee services. The company serves advertisers through broadcast and on-demand digital, mobile, social, and voice-activated platforms. Cumulus Media Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.