Financial Analysis: Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) vs. Madison Square Garden Entertainment (NYSE:MSGE)

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) and Madison Square Garden Entertainment (NYSE:MSGE) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.3% of Nexstar Media Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.9% of Madison Square Garden Entertainment shares are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of Nexstar Media Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of Madison Square Garden Entertainment shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Nexstar Media Group and Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nexstar Media Group	11.90%	28.40%	5.52%
Madison Square Garden Entertainment	3.97%	-458.14%	2.92%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Nexstar Media Group and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nexstar Media Group	0	1	7	0	2.88
Madison Square Garden Entertainment	0	2	4	0	2.67

Nexstar Media Group currently has a consensus price target of $225.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.95%. Madison Square Garden Entertainment has a consensus price target of $45.20, suggesting a potential upside of 2.17%. Given Nexstar Media Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nexstar Media Group is more favorable than Madison Square Garden Entertainment.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nexstar Media Group and Madison Square Garden Entertainment”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nexstar Media Group	$5.32 billion	1.12	$722.00 million	$19.26	10.16
Madison Square Garden Entertainment	$942.73 million	1.89	$37.43 million	$0.76	58.21

Nexstar Media Group has higher revenue and earnings than Madison Square Garden Entertainment. Nexstar Media Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Madison Square Garden Entertainment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Nexstar Media Group has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Madison Square Garden Entertainment has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Nexstar Media Group beats Madison Square Garden Entertainment on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. operates as a diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across the television and digital platforms in the United States. It owns, operates, programs, or provides sales and other services to various markets; and offers television programming services. The company offers video and display advertising platforms that are delivered locally or nationally through its own and various third party websites, mobile and over-the-top applications, other digital media solutions to media publishers, and advertisers and a consumer product reviews platform. In addition, it owns NewsNation, a national cable news network; and WGN-AM, a Chicago radio station, as well as owns and operates digital multicast networks and other multicast network services. Further, its digital assets include local websites, mobile applications, connected television applications, free-ad supported television channels representing products of local television stations, The CW, The Hill and BestReviews, and a suite of advertising solutions. Additionally, the company engages in digital business; and management of real estate assets, including leasing of owned office and production facilities. Its stations are affiliates of ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, The CW, MyNetworkTV, and other broadcast television networks. The company was formerly known as Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. and changed its name to Nexstar Media Group, Inc. in January 2017. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

About Madison Square Garden Entertainment

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. engages in the provision of entertainment services. Its portfolio of venues includes The Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre, The Theater at Madison Square, and The Chicago Theatre. The company was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in New York, NY.