Analyzing Gannett (NYSE:GCI) and TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT)

Gannett (NYSE:GCI) and TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.7% of Gannett shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of TechTarget shares are held by institutional investors. 4.2% of Gannett shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of TechTarget shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Gannett and TechTarget, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gannett	0	1	1	0	2.50
TechTarget	2	1	4	0	2.29

Gannett presently has a consensus target price of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 66.90%. TechTarget has a consensus target price of $16.40, suggesting a potential upside of 197.64%. Given TechTarget’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe TechTarget is more favorable than Gannett.

Profitability

This table compares Gannett and TechTarget’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gannett	4.84%	53.24%	5.14%
TechTarget	-252.96%	-21.56%	-13.65%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Gannett and TechTarget”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gannett	$2.51 billion	0.21	-$26.35 million	$0.34	10.57
TechTarget	$284.90 million	1.38	-$116.86 million	($0.42)	-13.12

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

Risk & Volatility

Gannett has a beta of 2.55, suggesting that its share price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TechTarget has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Gannett beats TechTarget on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gannett

Gannett Co., Inc. operates as a media and marketing solutions company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Domestic Gannett Media, Newsquest, and Digital Marketing Solutions. The company's print offerings includes home delivery on a subscription basis; single copy; non-daily publications, such as shoppers and niche publications. It also provides digital-only subscription, including local media brands, USA TODAY NETWORK community events platform, magazines, sports, and games; and E-newspapers; and digital advertising and marketing services. In addition, the company offers digital news and media brands; daily and weekly newspapers; digital marketing solutions, such as online presence solutions, online advertising products, conversion software, and cloud-based software solutions; commercial printing and distribution services; and prints commercial materials, including flyers, business cards, and invitations. The company was formerly known as New Media Investment Group Inc. and changed its name to Gannett Co., Inc. in November 2019. Gannett Co., Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

About TechTarget

TechTarget, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides marketing and sales services that deliver business impact for business-to-business technology companies in North America and internationally. The company's service enables technology vendors to identify, reach, and influence corporate information technology (IT) decision-makers actively researching specific IT purchases; and customized marketing programs that integrate demand generation, brand advertising techniques, and content curation and creation. It offers business to business services, such as IT Deal Alert, a suite of data, software, and services comprising Priority Engine and Qualified Sales Opportunities to identify and prioritize accounts and individuals actively researching new technology purchases or upgrades; demand solutions provides marketing programs, including white papers, webcasts, podcasts, videocasts, virtual trade shows, and content sponsorships; brand solutions which includes on-network banner advertising and digital sponsorships, off-network banner targeting, and microsites and related formats; custom content creation that delivers market insights and guidance to technology companies and off-the-shelf editorial sponsorship products on topics aligned to customer markets; and BrightTALK platform which allows customers to create, host and promote webinars, virtual events, and video content. In addition, the company operates websites, webinars, and virtual event channels that focus on a specific IT sector, such as storage, security, or networking; and enables registered members to conduct their pre-purchase research by accessing vendor supplied content through its virtual event and webinar channels, and website networks. TechTarget, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.