BlackLine (BL) Competitors

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) and Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, community ranking, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Does the media refer more to BL or PCTY?

In the previous week, Paylocity had 19 more articles in the media than BlackLine. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for Paylocity and 11 mentions for BlackLine. BlackLine's average media sentiment score of 0.99 beat Paylocity's score of 0.96 indicating that BlackLine is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
BlackLine	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Paylocity	17 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer BL or PCTY?

BlackLine presently has a consensus price target of $60.00, indicating a potential upside of 26.77%. Paylocity has a consensus price target of $226.12, indicating a potential upside of 16.46%. Given BlackLine's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe BlackLine is more favorable than Paylocity.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BlackLine	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.38
Paylocity	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in BL or PCTY?

Paylocity received 167 more outperform votes than BlackLine when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.92% of users gave Paylocity an outperform vote while only 62.16% of users gave BlackLine an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
BlackLine	Outperform Votes 409 62.16%	Underperform Votes 249 37.84%
Paylocity	Outperform Votes 576 67.92%	Underperform Votes 272 32.08%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of BL or PCTY?

95.1% of BlackLine shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Paylocity shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.6% of BlackLine shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.9% of Paylocity shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, BL or PCTY?

Paylocity has higher revenue and earnings than BlackLine. BlackLine is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Paylocity, 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
BlackLine	$653.34M	4.57	$165.81M	$1.45	32.64
Paylocity	$1.50B	7.24	$206.77M	$3.90	49.78

Which has more volatility & risk, BL or PCTY?

BlackLine has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paylocity has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BL or PCTY more profitable?

BlackLine has a net margin of 24.67% compared to Paylocity's net margin of 14.76%. Paylocity's return on equity of 22.45% beat BlackLine's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BlackLine	24.67%	21.63%	4.10%
Paylocity	14.76%	22.45%	5.35%

Summary

Paylocity beats BlackLine on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.