Reviewing Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) & AdStar (OTCMKTS:ADST)

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) and AdStar (OTCMKTS:ADST) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Stagwell and AdStar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stagwell	-0.06%	14.54%	2.79%
AdStar	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

35.6% of Stagwell shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Stagwell shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.6% of AdStar shares are held 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 Stagwell and AdStar”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stagwell	$2.84 billion	0.50	$2.26 million	N/A	N/A
AdStar	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Stagwell has higher revenue and earnings than AdStar.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Stagwell and AdStar, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stagwell	0	3	3	0	2.50
AdStar	0	0	0	0	0.00

Stagwell currently has a consensus price target of $8.17, suggesting a potential upside of 49.40%. Given Stagwell’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Stagwell is more favorable than AdStar.

Summary

Stagwell beats AdStar on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About AdStar

AdStar, Inc. engages in the provision of advertising technology services to publishers. It focuses on its application service provider. The company was founded by Leslie Bernhard and Eli Rousso in 1986 and is headquartered in Marina del Rey, CA.