John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLYB) versus Creative Realities (NASDAQ:CREX) Financial Contrast

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and Creative Realities”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Wiley & Sons	$1.68 billion	1.56	$221.62 million	$3.78	13.65
Creative Realities	$57.23 million	0.55	-$8.28 million	($2.11)	-1.10

John Wiley & Sons has higher revenue and earnings than Creative Realities. Creative Realities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than John Wiley & Sons, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.5% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.3% of Creative Realities shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.7% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 26.8% of Creative Realities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and Creative Realities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Wiley & Sons	11.90%	27.99%	8.16%
Creative Realities	-29.29%	-88.21%	-13.51%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for John Wiley & Sons and Creative Realities, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Wiley & Sons	0	1	0	0	2.00
Creative Realities	1	1	2	0	2.25

Creative Realities has a consensus target price of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 244.83%. Given Creative Realities’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Creative Realities is more favorable than John Wiley & Sons.

Risk and Volatility

John Wiley & Sons has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Creative Realities has a beta of 1.52, indicating that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

John Wiley & Sons beats Creative Realities on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. engages in the provision of research and learning materials. It operates through the following segments: Research, Learning, and Held for Sale or Sold. The Research segment consists of research publishing and research solutions. The Learning segment includes academic and professional reporting lines and consists of publishing and related knowledge solutions. The Held for Sale or Sold segment offers businesses held-for-sale including Wiley Edge and CrossKnowledge, University Services and Tuition Manager, and Test Prep and Advancement Courses. The company was founded by Charles Wiley in 1807 and is headquartered in Hoboken, NJ.

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.