Comparing MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK)

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

MediaAlpha has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shutterstock has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares MediaAlpha and Shutterstock”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MediaAlpha	$1.11 billion	0.65	$25.62 million	$1.62	7.34
Shutterstock	$989.92 million	0.16	$45.50 million	($5.65)	-0.78

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

64.4% of MediaAlpha shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Shutterstock shares are held by institutional investors. 14.6% of MediaAlpha shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 32.3% of Shutterstock shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for MediaAlpha and Shutterstock, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MediaAlpha	0	5	3	1	2.56
Shutterstock	1	1	1	0	2.00

MediaAlpha presently has a consensus target price of $13.79, suggesting a potential upside of 15.90%. Shutterstock has a consensus target price of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 58.91%. Given Shutterstock’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Shutterstock is more favorable than MediaAlpha.

Profitability

This table compares MediaAlpha and Shutterstock’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MediaAlpha	7.94%	-301.42%	28.23%
Shutterstock	-22.87%	13.61%	5.49%

Summary

MediaAlpha beats Shutterstock on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock, Inc. provides platform to connect brands and businesses to high quality content in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers image services consisting of photographs, vectors, and illustrations, which is used in visual communications, such as websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications, and others; footage services, including video clips, filmed by industry experts and cinema grade video effects in HD and 4K formats that are integrated into websites, social media, marketing campaigns, and cinematic productions; and music services comprising music tracks and sound effects, which are used to complement images and footage. It also provides 3 dimensional models consisting of 3D models used in various industries, such as advertising, media and video production, gaming, retail, education, design, and architecture; and generative AI content comprising images generated from algorithms trained with ethically sourced content. The company offers its services under the Shutterstock, Pond5, TurboSquid, PicMonkey, PremiumBeat, Splash News, Bigstock, and Offset brand names. In addition, it operates a collection of graphics interchange format visuals and stickers that supplies casual conversational content. The company serves corporate professionals and organizations, media and broadcast companies, and small and medium-sized businesses, and individual creators through digital, live sales, and client management channels. Shutterstock, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York.