Gray Television (NYSE: GTN) and Walt Disney Company (The) (NYSE:DIS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitabiliy, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.
Risk & Volatility
Gray Television has a beta of 3.28, meaning that its stock price is 228% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Walt Disney Company (The) has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Walt Disney Company (The) pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Gray Television does not pay a dividend. Walt Disney Company (The) pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Profitability
This table compares Gray Television and Walt Disney Company (The)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Gray Television | 7.57% | 17.77% | 3.11% |
| Walt Disney Company (The) | 16.63% | 19.81% | 10.27% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Gray Television and Walt Disney Company (The)’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Gray Television | $842.20 million | 1.15 | $317.79 million | $0.87 | 15.52 |
| Walt Disney Company (The) | $55.54 billion | 3.03 | $17.10 billion | $5.74 | 18.76 |
Walt Disney Company (The) has higher revenue and earnings than Gray Television. Gray Television is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Walt Disney Company (The), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Gray Television and Walt Disney Company (The), as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Gray Television | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Walt Disney Company (The) | 4 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 2.34 |
Gray Television currently has a consensus target price of $17.67, suggesting a potential upside of 30.86%. Walt Disney Company (The) has a consensus target price of $116.52, suggesting a potential upside of 8.20%. Given Gray Television’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Gray Television is more favorable than Walt Disney Company (The).
Institutional and Insider Ownership
87.4% of Gray Television shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.4% of Walt Disney Company (The) shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.0% of Gray Television shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Walt Disney Company (The) shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Walt Disney Company (The) beats Gray Television on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
Gray Television Company Profile
Gray Television, Inc. is a television broadcast company. The Company owns and operates television stations and digital assets in various markets across the United States. As of February 21, 2017, the Company owned and/or operated television stations in 54 television markets broadcasting over 200 separate programming streams, including 37 affiliates of the CBS Network (CBS), 29 affiliates of the NBC Network (NBC), 20 affiliates of the ABC Network (ABC) and 15 affiliates of the FOX Network (FOX). In addition to a primary broadcast channel, each of its stations can also broadcast additional secondary digital channels within a market by utilizing the same bandwidth, but with different programming from the primary channel. The Company also broadcasts local news/weather channels in certain of its existing markets. Along with affiliations with ABC, CBS and FOX, the Company’s secondary channels are affiliated with various smaller networks and program services.
Walt Disney Company (The) Company Profile
The Walt Disney Company is an entertainment company. The Company operates in four business segments: Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, and Consumer Products & Interactive Media. The media networks segment includes cable and broadcast television networks, television production and distribution operations, domestic television stations, and radio networks and stations. Under the Parks and Resorts segment, the Company’s Walt Disney Imagineering unit designs and develops new theme park concepts and attractions, as well as resort properties. The studio entertainment segment produces and acquires live-action and animated motion pictures, direct-to-video content, musical recordings and live stage plays. It also develops and publishes games, primarily for mobile platforms, books, magazines and comic books. The Company distributes merchandise directly through retail, online and wholesale businesses. Its cable networks consist of ESPN, the Disney Channels and Freeform.
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