USA Today (NYSE:TDAY) and AdStar (OTCMKTS:ADST) Head-To-Head Contrast

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.7% of USA Today shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.6% of AdStar shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of USA Today shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AdStar and USA Today”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AdStar	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
USA Today	$2.30 billion	0.46	$1.75 million	($0.11)	-66.27

USA Today has higher revenue and earnings than AdStar.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for AdStar and USA Today, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AdStar	0	0	0	0	0.00
USA Today	0	2	2	0	2.50

USA Today has a consensus price target of $7.70, suggesting a potential upside of 5.62%. Given USA Today’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe USA Today is more favorable than AdStar.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AdStar	N/A	N/A	N/A
USA Today	0.08%	5.68%	0.54%

Summary

USA Today beats AdStar on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About USA Today

Gannett Co Inc. invests in, owns, and operates local media assets in the United States. The company’s principal products include 125 daily newspapers with total paid circulation of approximately 1.4 million; 314 weekly newspapers with total paid circulation of approximately 315,000 and total free circulation of approximately 1.9 million; 124 shoppers with total circulation of approximately 3.0 million; and 538 locally-focused Websites, including Internet and mobile devices with approximately 224 million page views per month. Its principal products also comprise 2 yellow page directories with a total distribution of approximately 230,000 that cover a population of approximately 411,000 people; 68 business publications; and Propel digital marketing and business services. In addition, the company produces niche publications that address specific local market interests, such as recreation, sports, healthcare, and real estate. Further, it provides print and online products that offer local market news and information on various topics comprising local news and politics, community and regional events, youth sports, opinion and editorial pages, local schools, obituaries, weddings, and police reports, as well as print and digital advertising products, as well as commercial printing and regional business-oriented publications services. The company reaches approximately 20 million people per week; and serves approximately 220,000 business customers. New Media Investment Group Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in New York, New York.