Head to Head Analysis: HG (OTCMKTS:STLY) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and HG (OTCMKTS:STLY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.7% of HG shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.0% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 36.1% of HG shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lamar Advertising and HG’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamar Advertising	16.40%	30.20%	5.53%
HG	-3.70%	-1.31%	-0.92%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lamar Advertising and HG”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lamar Advertising	$2.21 billion	5.24	$495.76 million	$3.53	32.01
HG	$11.11 million	1.11	-$820,000.00	($0.08)	-53.75

Lamar Advertising has higher revenue and earnings than HG. HG is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lamar Advertising, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HG has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Lamar Advertising and HG, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamar Advertising	0	4	1	0	2.20
HG	0	0	0	0	0.00

Lamar Advertising presently has a consensus price target of $134.60, indicating a potential upside of 19.10%. Given Lamar Advertising’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Lamar Advertising is more favorable than HG.

Summary

Lamar Advertising beats HG on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lamar Advertising

Lamar Advertising Company operates as an outdoor advertising company in the United States and Canada. The company owns and operates billboards, logo signs, and transit advertising displays, as well as rents space for advertising on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals. Lamar Advertising Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

About HG

HG Holdings, Inc. engages in the title insurance and real estate businesses in the United States. It operates through four segments: Title Insurance Services, Reinsurance, Management Services, and Real Estate. The company provides title insurance, closing and/or escrow, and similar or related services in connection with residential and commercial real estate transactions. It also owns and operates a portfolio of single-tenant properties leased for the occupancy by U.S. government tenant agencies and sub-agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Veterans affairs, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Transportation. In addition, the company provides excess-of-loss reinsurance coverage related to catastrophic weather risk in Texas; and management advisory services, such as formation, operational, and restructuring services. The company was formerly known as Stanley Furniture Company, Inc. and changed its name to HG Holdings, Inc. in March 2018. HG Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.