Contrasting Phoenix New Media (NYSE:FENG) & iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT)

Phoenix New Media (NYSE:FENG) and iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Phoenix New Media and iHeartMedia, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Phoenix New Media	1	0	0	0	1.00
iHeartMedia	1	3	1	0	2.00

iHeartMedia has a consensus price target of $4.50, indicating a potential upside of 15.09%. Given iHeartMedia’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe iHeartMedia is more favorable than Phoenix New Media.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

6.3% of Phoenix New Media shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of iHeartMedia shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.9% of Phoenix New Media shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.5% of iHeartMedia shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Phoenix New Media has a beta of -0.25, suggesting that its stock price is 125% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, iHeartMedia has a beta of 1.67, suggesting that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Phoenix New Media and iHeartMedia”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Phoenix New Media	$761.38 million	0.03	-$7.45 million	($0.56)	-3.37
iHeartMedia	$3.85 billion	0.15	-$1.01 billion	($2.59)	-1.51

Phoenix New Media has higher earnings, but lower revenue than iHeartMedia. Phoenix New Media is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than iHeartMedia, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Phoenix New Media and iHeartMedia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Phoenix New Media	-6.35%	-4.45%	-2.94%
iHeartMedia	-10.37%	-1.63%	0.50%

Summary

iHeartMedia beats Phoenix New Media on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Phoenix New Media

Phoenix New Media Limited provides content on an integrated Internet platform in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through two segments, Net Advertising Services and Paid Services. It offers content and services through PC channel, mobile channel, and telecom operators, as well as transmits content to TV viewers, primarily through Phoenix TV. The company, through its website, ifeng.com, provides various interest-based content verticals, such as news, finance, video, automobiles, technology, entertainment, military, real estate, fashion, and sport; and offers interactive services, including comments posting and user surveys. Its mobile channel consists of ifeng News, a news application that provides newsfeeds and other contents in the form of text, image, live streaming, and video; ifeng Video, a video application, which offers video news, live broadcasting, Phoenix TV programs content, etc.; i.ifeng.com mobile Internet website; and digital reading applications. In addition, Phoenix New Media Limited offers mobile newspaper, mobile video, and mobile game services, as well as wireless value-added services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. Phoenix New Media Limited is a subsidiary of Phoenix Satellite Television (B.V.I.) Holding Limited.

About iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia, Inc. operates as an audio media company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Multiplatform Group, Digital Audio Group, and Audio & Media Services Group. The Multiplatform Group segment offers broadcast radio stations, sponsorship and events, and live and virtual events; and operates Premiere Networks, a national radio network that produces, distributes, or represents syndicated radio programs and services to radio station affiliates. It also delivers real-time traffic flow and incident information, and weather updates, sports, and news. The Digital Audio Group segment provides podcasting, digital sites, newsletters, digital services, and programs; and iHeartRadio, a mobile app and web based service for radio stations, digital only stations, custom artist stations, and podcasts. The Audio and Media Services Group segment engages in the media representation business; and provides scheduling and broadcast software and services. This segment also provides RCS, a cloud and on-premises broadcast software, such as radio and television automation, music scheduling, newsroom automation, advertising sales management, disaster recovery solutions; and real-time audio recognition technology to radio and television stations, cable channels, record labels, advertisers, and agencies, as well as media streaming and research services. The company was formerly known as CC Media Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to iHeartMedia, Inc. in September 2014. The company is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.