Financial Contrast: Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA) & FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA)

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) and Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

This table compares FOX and Saga Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FOX	11.41%	18.14%	9.40%
Saga Communications	0.27%	0.18%	0.13%

Volatility and Risk

FOX has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Saga Communications has a beta of -0.02, suggesting that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

FOX pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Saga Communications pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.5%. FOX pays out 13.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Saga Communications pays out 2,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. FOX has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for FOX and Saga Communications, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FOX	0	9	8	0	2.47
Saga Communications	1	1	0	0	1.50

FOX currently has a consensus target price of $75.07, indicating a potential upside of 33.02%. Given FOX’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe FOX is more favorable than Saga Communications.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

52.5% of FOX shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.3% of Saga Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.7% of FOX shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.4% of Saga Communications shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares FOX and Saga Communications”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FOX	$16.30 billion	1.47	$2.26 billion	$4.16	13.57
Saga Communications	$110.29 million	0.69	$3.46 million	$0.05	234.98

FOX has higher revenue and earnings than Saga Communications. FOX is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Saga Communications, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

FOX beats Saga Communications on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FOX

Fox Corporation operates as a news, sports, and entertainment company in the United States (U.S.). The company operates through four segments: Cable Network Programming, Television, Credible, and The FOX Studio Lot. The Cable Network Programming segment produces and licenses news and sports content for distribution through traditional cable television systems, direct broadcast satellite operators and telecommunication companies, virtual multi-channel video programming distributors, and other digital platforms primarily in the U.S. Television segment produces, acquires, markets, and distributes programming through the FOX broadcast network, advertising supported video-on-demand service Tubi, and operates power broadcast television stations including duopolies and other digital platform; and produces content for third parties. The Credible segment engages in the consumer finance marketplace. The FOX Studio Lot segment provides television and film production services along with office space, studio operation services and includes all operations of the facility. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Saga Communications

Saga Communications, Inc., a media company, engages in acquiring, developing, and operating broadcast properties in the United States. The company's radio stations employ various programming formats, including classic hits, country, classic country, hot/soft/urban adult contemporary, oldies, classic rock, rock, and news/talk. It owns and operates FM and AM radio stations, and metro signals serving various markets. Saga Communications, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.