Contrasting Harte Hanks (HHS) and The Competition

Harte Hanks (NASDAQ:HHS) is one of 259 publicly-traded companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Harte Hanks to related companies based on the strength of its risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Harte Hanks has a beta of -0.03, indicating that its stock price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Harte Hanks’ peers have a beta of 1.02, indicating that their average stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.8% of Harte Hanks shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.0% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 9.6% of Harte Hanks shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.8% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Harte Hanks and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Harte Hanks	1	0	0	0	1.00
Harte Hanks Competitors	2190	6809	10761	467	2.47

As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 13.75%. Given Harte Hanks’ peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Harte Hanks has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Harte Hanks and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Harte Hanks	$159.57 million	-$810,000.00	-16.18
Harte Hanks Competitors	$2.96 billion	-$9.58 million	13.45

Harte Hanks’ peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Harte Hanks. Harte Hanks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Harte Hanks and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Harte Hanks	-0.67%	-5.06%	-1.13%
Harte Hanks Competitors	-19.45%	-47.81%	-5.29%

Summary

Harte Hanks peers beat Harte Hanks on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

Harte Hanks Company Profile

Harte-Hanks, Inc. engages in the provision of marketing solutions. It specializes in consulting, data analytics, creative services, digital and social media, marketing strategy, marketing technology, and other related services. It supports a range of customers in the field of technology, travel and leisure, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, automotive, finance, and retail. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in San Antonio, TX.