NCMI vs HFUS vs STGW Stock Comparison

National CineMedia, Hartford Creative and Stagwell Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NCMI National CineMedia, Inc.
$1.89 -14.1% 1M -55.7% 1Y
Market cap
$173.34M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$249.00M
Div. yield
0.07%
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
2 wins
STGW Stagwell Inc
$8.98 +5.9% 1M +82.9% 1Y
Market cap
$2.13B
P/E
131.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.04B
Div. yield
–
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Stagwell leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Stagwell 4, Hartford Creative 4, National CineMedia 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNCMIHFUSSTGWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $173.34M $50.05M $2.13B STGW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -22.8x 37.0x 131.8x HFUS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 7.7x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.8% -0.4% +6.4% STGW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.1% 56.1% 0.5% HFUS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 60.0% 2.4% HFUS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.7x — 4.3x NCMI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.07% — 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -55.7% -27.3% +82.9% STGW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -43.5%/yr +25.6%/yr 0.0%/yr HFUS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 74.1% 111.8% 54.3% STGW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 76/100 42/100 68/100 NCMI

Percentile Scorecard

NCMIHFUSSTGW

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisNCMIHFUSSTGW
Valuation 85 #9 of 54 8 #50 of 54 64 #20 of 54
Growth 77 #11 of 45 46 #25 of 45 82 #9 of 45
Profitability 43 #25 of 43 81 #9 of 43 57 #19 of 43
Financial Health 85 #10 of 62 34 #41 of 62 43 #36 of 62
Shareholder Returns 92 #3 of 26 – 96 #2 of 26
Overall 76 42 68
  • NCMI ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media
  • HFUS ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media
  • STGW ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodNCMIHFUSSTGWSPY
1 month -14.1%-26.2%+5.9% -1.0%
3 months -49.9%-50.0%+21.0% +2.9%
6 months -46.6%-44.3%+31.1% +6.4%
Year to date -51.4%-60.0%+83.6% +11.4%
1 year -55.7%-27.3%+82.9% +13.1%
3 years -47.8%-43.2%+122.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year -19.5%-17.2%+30.6% +21.5%
5 years -94.3%+212.5%-0.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year -43.5%+25.6%0.0% +10.9%
10 years -98.7%-66.7%— +255.2%
10 years, per year -35.1%-10.4%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureNCMIHFUSSTGWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 74.1%111.8%54.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 91.7%234.2%51.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.80-0.130.86 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.75-0.241.53 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -97.3%-94.1%-62.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -57.5%-62.7%-4.0% -2.5%
52-week high $4.45$5.36$9.35 $779.14
52-week low $1.89$2.00$4.40 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleNCMIHFUSSTGW
P/E now vs peer median -23.3xmedian 18.8x 37.0xmedian 18.8x 136.4xmedian 18.8x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.7x 20.8xmedian 0.7x 0.7xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.3xmedian 11.1x —median 11.1x 11.2xmedian 11.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.0xmedian 9.4x -105.0xmedian 9.4x 8.7xmedian 9.4x
P/B now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 1.6x 53.6xmedian 1.6x 3.2xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.89median 0.44 0.25median 0.44 2.62median 0.44

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsNCMIHFUSSTGW
Revenue $249.00M $2.41M $3.04B
Gross profit $234.50M $2.43M $1.09B
Operating income -$17.70M $1.64M $138.73M
Net income -$7.60M $1.35M $16.16M
Free cash flow $19.70M -$476.73K $252.73M
EPS (diluted) $-0.08 $0.05 $0.07
Cash & equivalents $46.10M $160.42K $109.47M
Total debt $36.00M $5.73M $1.45B
Shares (diluted) 93.70M 25.03M 245.91M
Enterprise value $5.14M $49.62M $1.67B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricNCMIHFUSSTGW
P/E -23.3x 37.0x 136.4x
P/FCF 9.0x -105.0x 8.7x
P/Operating cash flow 7.4x -105.0x 7.3x
P/S 0.7x 20.8x 0.7x
P/B 0.5x 53.6x 3.2x
P/Tangible book 4.3x 53.6x -17.0x
EV/EBITDA 7.3x – 11.2x
EV/EBIT -8.1x 31.4x 25.5x
EV/Revenue 0.6x 21.4x 1.2x
EV/FCF 7.3x -108.3x 14.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.0x -108.3x 11.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.89 0.25 2.62

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNCMIHFUSSTGW
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.8% -0.4% 6.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.3% 314.8% 5.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.3% 5.1% 6.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.8% – 3.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 24.7% -0.7% 9.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -15.1% 143.6% 14.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 62.6% -6.6% -15.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.3% 59.9% 44.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 62.4% -6.6% 1,127%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -26.1% 149.9% 52.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -19.3% -149.4% 13.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 128.7% -90.5% -1.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -18.6% -149.4% 4.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 81.9% -79.4% -4.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNCMIHFUSSTGW
Gross margin 94.2% 100.7% 35.8%
EBITDA margin 7.9% – 10.4%
Operating margin -7.1% 68.2% 4.6%
Pretax margin -3.1% 67.8% 1.6%
Net margin -3.1% 56.1% 0.5%
FCF margin 7.9% -19.8% 8.3%
Operating cash flow margin 9.6% -19.8% 9.9%
Return on equity -2.2% 209.1% 2.5%
Return on assets -1.7% 34.8% 0.4%
Return on invested capital – 60.0% 2.4%
Return on capital employed -4.5% 255.2% 5.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -3.1x -0.4x 18.6x
Stock comp / revenue 3.1% – 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNCMIHFUSSTGW
Debt / assets 2.7% 41.3% 34.5%
Debt / equity 0.0x 1.8x 2.1x
Net debt / EBITDA -1.7x – 4.3x
Debt / FCF 0.6x -3.6x 5.7x
Liabilities / assets 25.1% 77.6% 83.7%
Equity / assets 74.9% 22.4% 16.3%
Interest coverage -25.3x – 1.5x
Current ratio 1.8x 1.2x 0.8x
Quick ratio 1.8x 0.1x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.8x 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.12 9.88 1.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNCMIHFUSSTGW
Dividend yield 4.8% – –
Net buyback yield 2.5% – 7.0%
Shareholder yield 7.3% – 7.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) -150.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 57.9% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 100.0% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 57.8% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusNCMIHFUSSTGW
Forward P/E – – 7.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.07FY2026 – $1.16FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – +39.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +11.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $280.69MFY2026 – $3.39BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +15.4%FY2026 – +16.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -7.4% – +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNCMIHFUSSTGW
Held by institutions 89.6% – 42.1%
Institutions holding 110 – 184
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.2% – -0.1%
Institutions buying 56 – 92
Institutions selling 34 – 57
Buyers to sellers 1.65 – 1.61

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

NCMIHFUSSTGW
NCMI 1.00 -0.01 0.16
HFUS -0.01 1.00 0.01
STGW 0.16 0.01 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NCMI, HFUS and STGW?

Stagwell (STGW) is the largest by market capitalisation: National CineMedia (NCMI) $173.34M, Hartford Creative (HFUS) $50.05M, Stagwell (STGW) $2.13B.

Which stock is cheaper, NCMI, HFUS and STGW?

Hartford Creative (HFUS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (National CineMedia (NCMI) -22.8x, Hartford Creative (HFUS) 37.0x, Stagwell (STGW) 131.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Stagwell (STGW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: National CineMedia (NCMI) +5.8%, Hartford Creative (HFUS) -0.4%, Stagwell (STGW) +6.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Hartford Creative (HFUS) has the highest net margin (National CineMedia (NCMI) -3.1%, Hartford Creative (HFUS) 56.1%, Stagwell (STGW) 0.5%). On return on invested capital, Hartford Creative (HFUS) leads (Hartford Creative (HFUS) 60.0%, Stagwell (STGW) 2.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Stagwell (STGW) returned the most: National CineMedia (NCMI) -55.7%, Hartford Creative (HFUS) -27.3%, Stagwell (STGW) +82.9%. Over five years, Hartford Creative (HFUS) compounded fastest (National CineMedia (NCMI) -43.5%/yr, Hartford Creative (HFUS) +25.6%/yr, Stagwell (STGW) 0.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: National CineMedia (NCMI) 0.07%, Stagwell (STGW) 0.00%. Hartford Creative (HFUS) and Stagwell (STGW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Stagwell (STGW) has been the steadiest (National CineMedia (NCMI) 74.1%, Hartford Creative (HFUS) 111.8%, Stagwell (STGW) 54.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NCMI, HFUS and STGW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Stagwell (STGW) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.