Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) and Creative Realities (NASDAQ:CREX) Critical Review

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) and Creative Realities (NASDAQ:CREX) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.0% of Omnicom Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.3% of Creative Realities shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Omnicom Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 26.8% of Creative Realities shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Omnicom Group and Creative Realities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Omnicom Group	1.74%	24.73%	5.15%
Creative Realities	-29.29%	-88.21%	-13.51%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Omnicom Group and Creative Realities”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Omnicom Group	$17.27 billion	1.18	-$54.50 million	$1.16	63.84
Creative Realities	$57.23 million	0.59	-$8.28 million	($2.11)	-1.18

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Omnicom Group and Creative Realities, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Omnicom Group	2	5	4	0	2.18
Creative Realities	1	1	2	0	2.25

Omnicom Group currently has a consensus target price of $99.00, indicating a potential upside of 33.69%. Creative Realities has a consensus target price of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 221.29%. Given Creative Realities’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Creative Realities is more favorable than Omnicom Group.

Risk & Volatility

Omnicom Group has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Creative Realities has a beta of 1.51, suggesting that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Omnicom Group beats Creative Realities on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Omnicom Group

Omnicom Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services. It provides a range of services in the areas of advertising and media, precision marketing, commerce and branding, experiential, execution and support, public relations, and healthcare. The company's services include advertising, branding, content marketing, corporate social responsibility consulting, crisis communications, custom publishing, data analytics, database management, digital/direct marketing and post-production, digital transformation consulting, entertainment marketing, experiential marketing, field marketing, sales support, financial/corporate business-to-business advertising, graphic arts/digital imaging, healthcare marketing and communications, and instore design services. Its services also comprise interactive marketing, investor relations, marketing research, media planning and buying, retail media planning and buying, merchandising and point of sale, mobile marketing, multi-cultural marketing, non-profit marketing, organizational communications, package design, product placement, promotional marketing, public affairs, public relations, retail marketing, retail media and e-commerce, search engine marketing, shopper marketing, social media marketing, and sports and event marketing services. It operates in the North and Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and the Asia Pacific. The company was incorporated in 1944 and is based in New York, New York.

About Creative Realities

Creative Realities, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides digital marketing technology and solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers digital signage and media solutions to enhance communications in a wide-ranging variety of out-of-home environments. The company’s solutions include digital merchandising systems and omni-channel customer engagement systems; interactive digital shopping assistants; advisors and kiosks; and other interactive marketing technologies, such as mobile, social media, point-of-sale transactions, beaconing, and web-based media that enables its customers to engage with their consumers. It also provides hardware system design/engineering, hardware installation, content development, content scheduling, post-deployment network and field support, and media sales, as well as media management and distribution software platforms and networks; device and product management; and customized software service layers, systems, experiences, workflows, and integrated solutions. The company sells its solutions to the automotive, retail, digital out of home comprising advertising networks and retail media networks, foodservice/quick-serve restaurants, financial services, gaming, and sports and entertainment venues. Creative Realities, Inc. is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.