Quarterhill (QTRH) Competitors

Quarterhill (NASDAQ:QTRH) and Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings and community ranking.

Is QTRH or ACTG a better dividend stock?

Quarterhill pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Acacia Research pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.6%. Quarterhill pays out -16.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acacia Research pays out -454.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Acacia Research is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in QTRH or ACTG?

10.2% of Quarterhill shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Acacia Research shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Acacia Research shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in QTRH or ACTG?

Acacia Research received 85 more outperform votes than Quarterhill when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 66.01% of users gave Quarterhill an outperform vote while only 59.50% of users gave Acacia Research an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Quarterhill	Outperform Votes 200 66.01%	Underperform Votes 103 33.99%
Acacia Research	Outperform Votes 285 59.50%	Underperform Votes 194 40.50%

Is QTRH or ACTG more profitable?

Acacia Research has a net margin of 31.44% compared to Quarterhill's net margin of -11.31%. Acacia Research's return on equity of 10.35% beat Quarterhill's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quarterhill	-11.31%	-6.62%	-5.54%
Acacia Research	31.44%	10.35%	8.94%

Which has more risk and volatility, QTRH or ACTG?

Quarterhill has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acacia Research has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor QTRH or ACTG?

In the previous week, Acacia Research had 4 more articles in the media than Quarterhill. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Acacia Research and 0 mentions for Quarterhill. Acacia Research's average media sentiment score of 0.30 beat Quarterhill's score of 0.00 indicating that Acacia Research is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Quarterhill	Neutral
Acacia Research	Neutral

Which has better earnings and valuation, QTRH or ACTG?

Acacia Research has higher revenue and earnings than Quarterhill. Acacia Research is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Quarterhill, 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
Quarterhill	$77.40M	1.57	-$49.12M	-$0.24	-4.25
Acacia Research	$222.41M	1.59	$67.06M	-$0.11	-33.45

Summary

Acacia Research beats Quarterhill on 16 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.