Reviewing Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) and E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP)

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) and E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Criteo and E.W. Scripps’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Criteo	5.60%	14.33%	8.05%
E.W. Scripps	-58.02%	-4.58%	-0.53%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Criteo and E.W. Scripps”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Criteo	$1.86 billion	0.40	$144.60 million	$1.97	7.81
E.W. Scripps	$2.15 billion	0.13	-$100.88 million	($13.94)	-0.21

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Criteo and E.W. Scripps, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Criteo	2	4	6	0	2.33
E.W. Scripps	1	3	1	0	2.00

Criteo presently has a consensus target price of $21.85, indicating a potential upside of 42.07%. E.W. Scripps has a consensus target price of $5.90, indicating a potential upside of 100.00%. Given E.W. Scripps’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe E.W. Scripps is more favorable than Criteo.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.3% of Criteo shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.8% of E.W. Scripps shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Criteo shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of E.W. Scripps shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Criteo has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, E.W. Scripps has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Criteo beats E.W. Scripps on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Criteo

Criteo S.A., a technology company, provides marketing and monetization services on the open Internet in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company's Criteo Shopper Graph, which derives clients' proprietary commerce data, such as transaction activity on their digital properties. It also offers Criteo AI Engine solutions, including lookalike finder, recommendation, and predictive bidding algorithms; recommendation algorithms, dynamic creative optimization+, sponsored product placement algorithms, and other product placement algorithms. The company's technology comprises data synchronization, storage, and analysis of distributed computing infrastructure in various geographies, as well as fast data collection and retrieval using multi-layered caching infrastructure; and experimentation platform, an offline/online testing platform to enhance the capabilities and effectiveness of prediction models. In addition, it provides Criteo Marketing Solutions that allow commerce companies to address various marketing goals by engaging their consumers with personalized ads across the web, mobile, and offline store environments; and Criteo Retail Media solutions, which allows retailers to generate advertising revenues from consumer brands, and/or to drive sales for themselves, by monetizing their data and audiences through personalized ads, either on their own digital property or on the open Internet. Further, the company offers real-time advertising technology and trading infrastructure, delivering advanced media buying, selling, and packaging capabilities for media owners, agencies, performance advertisers, and third-party AdTech platforms. It serves companies in digital retail, travel, and classifieds sectors. Criteo S.A. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

About E.W. Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media enterprise through a portfolio of local television stations, national news, and entertainment networks in the United States. It operates through Local Media, Scripps Networks, and Other segments. The Local Media segment operates broadcast television stations, which produce news, information, sports, and entertainment content, as well as its related digital operations; runs network, syndicated, and original programming, and local sporting events; and provides core and political advertising services. The Scripps Networks segment offers national television networks through free over-the-air broadcast, cable/satellite, connected TV, and digital distribution. This segment also provides Scripp News, a national news network, which provides politics, entertainment, science, and technology news; Court TV, which showcases live trials; entertainment brands, such as Bounce, Defy TV, Grit, ION Mystery, and Laff; and ION, a national network of broadcast stations and broadcast television spectrum, which distributes programming through Federal Communications Commission-licensed television stations, as well as affiliated TV stations through over-the-air broadcast and pay TV platforms. In addition, it provides content and services through digital platforms, including the Internet, smartphones, and tablets; Nuvyyo, which offers consumers DVR product solutions to watch and record free over-the-air HDTV on connected devices; and Scripps National Spelling Bee, which shows educational programs. The company serves audiences and businesses through cable and satellite service providers. The E.W. Scripps Company was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.