Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) & JC Decaux (OTCMKTS:JCDXF) Head to Head Comparison

JC Decaux (OTCMKTS:JCDXF) and Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) are both business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.5% of Clear Channel Outdoor shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Clear Channel Outdoor shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares JC Decaux and Clear Channel Outdoor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JC Decaux	N/A	N/A	N/A
Clear Channel Outdoor	1.24%	N/A	-2.52%

Risk & Volatility

JC Decaux has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clear Channel Outdoor has a beta of 2.3, suggesting that its stock price is 130% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares JC Decaux and Clear Channel Outdoor”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JC Decaux	$4.16 billion	1.01	$297.04 million	N/A	N/A
Clear Channel Outdoor	$1.60 billion	0.74	$19.94 million	$0.05	47.70

JC Decaux has higher revenue and earnings than Clear Channel Outdoor.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for JC Decaux and Clear Channel Outdoor, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
JC Decaux	0	2	0	1	2.67
Clear Channel Outdoor	2	4	1	0	1.86

Clear Channel Outdoor has a consensus target price of $2.31, indicating a potential downside of 3.31%. Given Clear Channel Outdoor’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Clear Channel Outdoor is more favorable than JC Decaux.

About JC Decaux

JCDecaux SE operates as an outdoor advertising company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Street Furniture, Transport, and Billboard. The Street Furniture segment provides advertising services in shopping malls; rents street furniture; and sells and rents equipment, such as automatic public toilets, bikes, etc., as well as provides cleaning, maintenance, and other services. The Transport segment provides advertising services in public transport systems, such as airports, metros, buses, trams, and trains. The Billboard segment is involved in advertising on private property, including traditional large format or back-light billboards; neon-light billboards; and advertising wall wraps. The company was founded in 1964 and is based in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. JCDecaux SE is a subsidiary of JCDecaux Holding SAS.

About Clear Channel Outdoor

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. operates as an out-of-home advertising company in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through America, Airports, Europe-North, and Other segments. The company provides advertising services through billboards, including bulletins and posters, as well as spectaculars, which are customized display structures with videos, multi-dimensional lettering and figures, mechanical devices, moving parts, and other embellishments; street furniture displays, such as advertising surfaces on bus shelters, information kiosks, news racks, and other public structures; transit displays for rail stations and on various types of vehicles; retail displays; and airport advertising displays. It offers solutions, such as RADARView, an audience and campaign planning tool, which analyzes historical mobile location data; RADARConnect, a campaign amplification solution that delivers ads across mobile and other devices to re-target audience groups exposed to an out-of-home advertisement; RADARProof, a campaign measurement and attribution solutions which analyzes anonymized and/or aggregated data; and RADARSync, a data integration platform that uses customer data across the tools for customized application of solutions to customers' specific audience targets and goals. In addition, the company sells street furniture equipment; provides cleaning and maintenance services; and operates public bike programs, a public bicycle rental program that offers bicycles for rent to the public. The company was formerly known as Eller Media Company and changed its name to Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. in August 2005. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.