Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 5 stocks made the list for top value stocks in the Media industry. Those looking for value stocks to add to their portfolio may want to use this list as a starting point for further investment research.

Why Focus on Undervalued Media Stocks?

Value investors seek to buy stocks at a discount to their intrinsic value. Long-term returns show that such strategies are advantageous. Value stocks, as a group, tend to outperform growth stocks over extended periods of time. Typically, value investors perform financial analysis of numerous metrics, don’t follow the herd and are long-term investors.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade is derived from a stock’s Value Score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

What Goes Into AAII’s Value Grade?

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data as well as the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movement. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors with that task.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A–F grades for more than just value. It is possible for a stock to appear cheap based on one valuation metric but appear expensive on another. It is also possible for one valuation ratio to be associated with outperforming stocks during certain periods of time but not others. Some stocks may even have null values for certain metrics like the price-earnings ratio or the price-to-book ratio but not others. An example of this would be a company with losses instead of profits or a negative book value because of heavy borrowing. Negative earnings or book value result in non-meaningful ratios that are left blank or null.

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5 Undervalued Media Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 5 undervalued stocks in the Media industry for Tuesday, November 05, 2024. Let’s take a closer look at their individual scores to see how they measure up against each other and the Media industry median.

The Value Grade is assigned based on how each stock’s composite valuation compares to all other stocks.

The process for assigning grades starts with each variable for a given stock. The percentile rankings for all valid ratios that a stock has are calculated. So, for instance, a stock could have a price-to-book ranking in the 43rd percentile, a price-earnings ranking in the 67th percentile, a price-to-sales ranking in the 23rd percentile, etc. Then, those rankings are averaged for each stock. (A minimum of two valid variables are required, though all six will be used if available.)

Once the average of the individual variables is calculated, that average is ranked against all stocks. Put another way, each stock’s composite valuation is compared to all other stocks. These ranks are then sorted into quintiles from the cheapest 20% (a grade of A) to the most expensive 20% (a grade of F).

As always, we recommend that you conduct proper due diligence and research before investing in any security. We also suggest that investors utilize numerous grades, not just value, when it comes to deciding whether a company is a good fit for their allocation needs.

Cumulus Media Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Cumulus Media Inc., an audio-first media company, owns and operates radio stations in the United States. It owns and operates stations in various markets, as well as affiliated stations through Westwood One. The company’s content portfolio includes sports, news, talk, and entertainment programming from various brands, including the NFL, the NCAA, the Masters, CNN, AP News, the Academy of Country Music Awards, and other partners. In addition, the company provides digital marketing services, such as email marketing, geo-targeted display and video solutions, website and microsite building, hosting, social media management, reputation and listing management, and search engine marketing and optimization; influencers, audio solutions, research and insights, and live event services; and advertising performance guarantee services. The company serves advertisers through broadcast and on-demand digital, mobile, social, and voice-activated platforms. Cumulus Media Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Cumulus Media Inc. has a Value Score of 84, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Cumulus Media Inc.’s price-to-sales ratio at 0.02 compared to the industry median at 0.60, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Cumulus Media Inc.’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Now, let’s assess Cumulus Media Inc.’s EV/EBITDA ratio, also known as enterprise multiple. At 11.5, when compared to the industry median of 9.3, the company may be considered overvalued in relation to its peers. Value investors could use the enterprise multiple to identify stocks that are considered overvalued or undervalued relative to their industry.

Shareholder yield is the sum of a stock’s dividend yield (paid over previous 12 months minus special dividends) and the percentage of net share buybacks over the previous 12 months. Cumulus Media Inc.’s shareholder yield is lower than its industry median ratio of (0.10%). Value investors may look for an attractive shareholder yield because it can be a powerful tool for identifying if the company has a good management team.

As one of the most common value metrics, the price-to-book ratio evaluates a company’s current market price relative to its book value. Cumulus Media Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 1.42. This could make Cumulus Media Inc. more attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

Criteo S.A.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

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.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Criteo S.A. has a Value Score of 73, which is considered to be undervalued.

Criteo S.A.’s price-earnings ratio is 21.1 compared to the industry median at 13.9. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Criteo S.A. less attractive for value investors.

Criteo S.A.’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make Criteo S.A. more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.42.

You can read more about Criteo S.A.’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

comScore, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

comScore, Inc. operates as an information and analytics company that measures audiences, consumer behavior, and advertising across media platforms in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and internationally. The company provides digital ad solutions, including Media Metrix Multi-Platform and Mobile Metrix, which measure websites and applications on computers, smartphones, and tablets; Video Metrix that delivers measurement of digital video consumption; Plan Metrix, which offers understanding of consumer lifestyle; Total Home Panel Suite, which capture OTT, connected TV, and IOT device usage and content consumption; CCR, which enhances validated campaign essentials verification of mobile and desktop video campaigns; XMedia Enhanced, which provides a deduplicated view of national programming content; Comscore marketing solutions; Lift Models, which measures the impact of advertising on a brand; Survey Analytics, which measure various consumer insights including brand health metrics; and Activation Solutions, including audience activation and content activation. The company’s cross platform solutions products and services comprises Comscore TV–National that helps customers understand the performance of network advertising campaigns; Comscore TV–Local allows customers to understand consumer viewing patterns and characteristics; OnDemand Essentials that provides transactional tracking and reporting; Movie Solutions; and Hollywood Software Suite. In addition, it offers custom solutions for planning, optimization, and evaluation of advertising campaigns and brand protection. Further, the company provides products that measure movie viewership and box office results by capturing movie ticket sales in real time or near real time. It serves digital publishers, television networks, movie studios, content owners, brand advertisers, agencies, and technology providers. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

comScore, Inc. has a Value Score of 82, which is considered to be undervalued.

comScore, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make comScore, Inc. less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.42.

You can read more about comScore, Inc.’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

The E.W. Scripps Company’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

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.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

The E.W. Scripps Company has a Value Score of 95, which is considered to be undervalued.

The E.W. Scripps Company’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make The E.W. Scripps Company less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.42.

You can read more about The E.W. Scripps Company’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

WideOpenWest, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

WideOpenWest, Inc. provides high speed data, cable television, and digital telephony services to residential and business services customers in the United States. The company’s video services include basic cable services that comprise local broadcast television and local community programming; digital cable services; WOW tv+ that offers traditional cable video and cloud DVR functionality, voice remote with Google Assistant, and Netflix integration along with access to various streaming services and apps through the Google Play Store; and commercial-free movies, TV shows, sports, and other special event entertainment programs. Its telephony services consist of local and long-distance telephone services; business telephony and data services include fiber based, office-to-office metro Ethernet, session-initiated protocol trunking, colocation infrastructure, cloud computing, managed backup, and recovery services. The company was formerly known as WideOpenWest Kite, Inc. and changed its name to WideOpenWest, Inc. in March 2017. WideOpenWest, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is based in Englewood, Colorado.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

WideOpenWest, Inc. has a Value Score of 70, which is considered to be undervalued.

WideOpenWest, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make WideOpenWest, Inc. more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.42.

You can read more about WideOpenWest, Inc.’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Other Media Stock Grades

Value is just one of the five Stock Grades included in our A+ Investor service. AAII members can see the top-graded stocks—those with grades of A or B for value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality—on the A+ Stock Grades Screener.

Also, if you want full access to all of AAII’s premium services, you can subscribe to one convenient bundled plan called AAII Platinum where you can try out A+ Investor, AAII Dividend Investing, the Stock Superstars Report, Growth Investing and VMQ Stocks. With the other premium services, you can dive deep into additional metrics, portfolios, commentary and information about Media stocks as well as other industrys.

Choosing Which of the 5 Best Media Stocks Is Right for You

Choosing which value stocks to invest in will ultimately depend on your individual goals and allocation; however, comparing similar value stocks in the same industry can help you analyze which might be better investments for you in the long run. So, let’s take a look at the Value Grade for all of our stocks.

• Cumulus Media Inc. stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Criteo S.A. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• comScore, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of A.
• The E.W. Scripps Company stock has a Value Grade of A.
• WideOpenWest, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of B.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 5 undervalued stocks in the Media industry as well as their overall grades, it’s time for you to conduct additional research to see if these could fit your portfolio needs based on your goals and risk tolerance. AAII can help you figure out both and identify which investments align with what works best for you.

We do so through a program of education that teaches you to invest for yourself and become an effective manager of your own wealth—no more relying on others for your financial independence. You can rely on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis that makes you a better investor.

A+ Investor adds to that qualitative teaching by giving you a powerful data suite that helps you whittle down investment decisions to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Additional Resources About Media Stocks

Want to learn more about Media stocks to see if they could be the right investment for you? Check out some additional resources and articles to help you on your financial journey.

• 5 Undervalued Media Stocks for Tuesday, November 05
• 7 Undervalued Media Stocks for Monday, November 04
• 7 Undervalued Media Stocks for Friday, November 01
• GICS Decoded: Analyzing Stocks With S&P; Global Sectors and Industries

AAII Disclaimer

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