Financial Comparison: iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) vs. Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.9% of iHeartMedia shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.8% of Charter Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.2% of iHeartMedia shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Charter Communications shares are owned by 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 & Earnings

This table compares iHeartMedia 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
iHeartMedia	$3.99 billion	0.09	-$472.87 million	($1.82)	-1.26
Charter Communications	$54.77 billion	0.25	$4.99 billion	$38.51	2.93

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for iHeartMedia and Charter Communications, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
iHeartMedia	2	1	0	0	1.33
Charter Communications	6	10	5	0	1.95

iHeartMedia presently has a consensus price target of $4.25, indicating a potential upside of 85.59%. Charter Communications has a consensus price target of $215.17, indicating a potential upside of 90.56%. Given Charter Communications’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Charter Communications is more favorable than iHeartMedia.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
iHeartMedia	-7.18%	N/A	-1.12%
Charter Communications	9.05%	23.71%	3.19%

Risk and Volatility

iHeartMedia has a beta of 2.19, meaning that its share price is 119% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Charter Communications has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Charter Communications beats iHeartMedia on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.