iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) and FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) Head-To-Head Survey

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) and iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.5% of FOX shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of iHeartMedia shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.7% of FOX shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of iHeartMedia shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for FOX and iHeartMedia, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FOX	0	8	10	0	2.56
iHeartMedia	1	4	1	0	2.00

FOX presently has a consensus price target of $57.20, indicating a potential downside of 7.01%. iHeartMedia has a consensus price target of $2.92, indicating a potential downside of 3.10%. Given iHeartMedia’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe iHeartMedia is more favorable than FOX.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares FOX and iHeartMedia”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FOX	$16.30 billion	1.68	$2.26 billion	$4.91	12.53
iHeartMedia	$3.85 billion	0.12	-$1.01 billion	($2.43)	-1.24

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

Profitability

This table compares FOX and iHeartMedia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FOX	13.88%	18.86%	9.56%
iHeartMedia	-9.68%	N/A	-1.74%

Volatility and Risk

FOX has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, iHeartMedia has a beta of 1.91, suggesting that its share price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

FOX beats iHeartMedia on 11 of the 14 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 iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia, Inc. operates as an audio media company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Multiplatform Group, Digital Audio Group, and Audio & Media Services Group. The Multiplatform Group segment offers broadcast radio stations, sponsorship and events, and live and virtual events; and operates Premiere Networks, a national radio network that produces, distributes, or represents syndicated radio programs and services to radio station affiliates. It also delivers real-time traffic flow and incident information, and weather updates, sports, and news. The Digital Audio Group segment provides podcasting, digital sites, newsletters, digital services, and programs; and iHeartRadio, a mobile app and web based service for radio stations, digital only stations, custom artist stations, and podcasts. The Audio and Media Services Group segment engages in the media representation business; and provides scheduling and broadcast software and services. This segment also provides RCS, a cloud and on-premises broadcast software, such as radio and television automation, music scheduling, newsroom automation, advertising sales management, disaster recovery solutions; and real-time audio recognition technology to radio and television stations, cable channels, record labels, advertisers, and agencies, as well as media streaming and research services. The company was formerly known as CC Media Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to iHeartMedia, Inc. in September 2014. The company is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.