AppFolio (APPF) Competitors

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) and The Descartes Systems Group (NASDAQ:DSGX) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk and dividends.

Which has more risk and volatility, APPF or DSGX?

AppFolio has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Descartes Systems Group has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in APPF or DSGX?

62.3% of AppFolio shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of The Descartes Systems Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.2% of AppFolio shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of The Descartes Systems Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate APPF or DSGX?

AppFolio presently has a consensus price target of $277.75, suggesting a potential upside of 22.29%. The Descartes Systems Group has a consensus price target of $104.83, suggesting a potential upside of 2.91%. Given AppFolio's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AppFolio is more favorable than The Descartes Systems Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AppFolio	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
The Descartes Systems Group	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Is APPF or DSGX more profitable?

The Descartes Systems Group has a net margin of 21.02% compared to AppFolio's net margin of 17.32%. AppFolio's return on equity of 27.39% beat The Descartes Systems Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AppFolio	17.32%	27.39%	20.41%
The Descartes Systems Group	21.02%	10.21%	8.49%

Does the media prefer APPF or DSGX?

In the previous week, The Descartes Systems Group had 2 more articles in the media than AppFolio. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for The Descartes Systems Group and 9 mentions for AppFolio. The Descartes Systems Group's average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat AppFolio's score of 0.88 indicating that The Descartes Systems Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AppFolio	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
The Descartes Systems Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, APPF or DSGX?

The Descartes Systems Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AppFolio. The Descartes Systems Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AppFolio, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AppFolio	$722.08M	11.39	$2.70M	$2.07	109.72
The Descartes Systems Group	$607.70M	14.31	$115.91M	$1.40	72.76

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer APPF or DSGX?

The Descartes Systems Group received 210 more outperform votes than AppFolio when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.97% of users gave The Descartes Systems Group an outperform vote while only 56.56% of users gave AppFolio an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AppFolio	Outperform Votes 289 56.56%	Underperform Votes 222 43.44%
The Descartes Systems Group	Outperform Votes 499 64.97%	Underperform Votes 269 35.03%

Summary

The Descartes Systems Group beats AppFolio on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.