Comparing Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) and MediaCo (NASDAQ:MDIA)

MediaCo (NASDAQ:MDIA) and Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for MediaCo and Charter Communications, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MediaCo	1	0	0	0	1.00
Charter Communications	5	9	5	0	2.00

Charter Communications has a consensus target price of $226.88, suggesting a potential upside of 49.16%. Given Charter Communications’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Charter Communications is more favorable than MediaCo.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares MediaCo and Charter Communications”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MediaCo	$139.42 million	0.69	-$69.74 million	($0.83)	-1.38
Charter Communications	$54.40 billion	0.33	$4.99 billion	$38.51	3.95

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

64.0% of MediaCo shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.8% of Charter Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 9.8% of MediaCo shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Charter Communications shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares MediaCo and Charter Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MediaCo	N/A	N/A	N/A
Charter Communications	9.05%	23.71%	3.19%

Volatility & Risk

MediaCo has a beta of -0.05, meaning that its stock price is 105% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Charter Communications has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Charter Communications beats MediaCo on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MediaCo

MediaCo Holding Inc. owns and operates radio stations in the United States. The company engages in the operation of WQHT-FM and WBLS-FM radio stations in the New York City area. It also offers digital advertising, and events, which includes sponsorships, ticket sales, licensing, and syndication services. MediaCo Holding Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc. operates as a broadband connectivity and cable operator company serving residential and commercial customers in the United States. The company offers subscription-based internet, video, and mobile and voice services; a suite of broadband connectivity services, including fixed internet, WiFi, and mobile; Advanced WiFi services; Spectrum Security Shield; in-home WiFi, which provides customers with high performance wireless routers and managed WiFi services to enhance their fixed wireless internet experience; out-of-home WiFi; and Spectrum WiFi services. It also offers voice communications services using voice over internet protocol technology; and broadband communications solutions, such as internet access, data networking, fiber connectivity, video entertainment, and business telephone services to cellular towers and office buildings for business and carrier organizations. In addition, the company provides mobile services; video programming, static IP and business WiFi, voice, and e-mail and security services; sells local advertising across various platforms for networks, such as TBS, CNN, and ESPN; sells advertising inventory to local sports and news channels; and offers Audience App to create data-driven linear TV campaigns for local advertisers. Further, the company offers communications products and managed service solutions; data connectivity services to mobile and wireline carriers on a wholesale basis; and owns and operates regional sports networks and news channels. It serves approximately 32 million customers in 41 states. Charter Communications, Inc.was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.