Gray Media (GTN) Competitors

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) and Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, NXST or GTN?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nexstar Media Group	$5.41B	1.13	$722M	$19.26	10.43
Gray Media	$3.64B	0.16	$375M	$1.51	3.75

Is NXST or GTN more profitable?

Nexstar Media Group has a net margin of 11.90% compared to Gray Media's net margin of 5.64%. Nexstar Media Group's return on equity of 28.40% beat Gray Media's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nexstar Media Group	11.90%	28.40%	5.52%
Gray Media	5.64%	10.31%	2.17%

Is NXST or GTN a better dividend stock?

Nexstar Media Group pays an annual dividend of $7.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Gray Media pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Nexstar Media Group pays out 38.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Gray Media pays out 21.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Nexstar Media Group has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Gray Media is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of NXST or GTN?

95.3% of Nexstar Media Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Gray Media shares are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of Nexstar Media Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of Gray Media shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor NXST or GTN?

In the previous week, Nexstar Media Group had 5 more articles in the media than Gray Media. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Nexstar Media Group and 3 mentions for Gray Media. Gray Media's average media sentiment score of 0.63 beat Nexstar Media Group's score of 0.62 indicating that Gray Media is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nexstar Media Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Gray Media	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend NXST or GTN?

Nexstar Media Group presently has a consensus price target of $225.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.97%. Gray Media has a consensus price target of $6.88, suggesting a potential upside of 21.57%. Given Gray Media's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Gray Media is more favorable than Nexstar Media Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nexstar Media Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
Gray Media	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Which has more risk and volatility, NXST or GTN?

Nexstar Media Group has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gray Media has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Nexstar Media Group beats Gray Media on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.