Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ:SSNC) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.
Risk & Volatility
Intuit has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SS&C Technologies has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Intuit and SS&C Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Intuit | 2 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 2.61 |
| SS&C Technologies | 0 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 2.93 |
Intuit currently has a consensus price target of $376.0588, indicating a potential upside of 9.53%. SS&C Technologies has a consensus price target of $68.7857, indicating a potential downside of 0.51%. Given Intuit's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Intuit is more favorable than SS&C Technologies.
Profitability
This table compares Intuit and SS&C Technologies' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Intuit | 23.78% | 40.79% | 22.22% |
| SS&C Technologies | 10.85% | 20.10% | 6.36% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Intuit and SS&C Technologies' top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Intuit | $7.68 billion | 11.71 | $1.83 billion | $6.56 | 52.34 |
| SS&C Technologies | $4.63 billion | 3.82 | $438.50 million | $3.62 | 19.10 |
Intuit has higher revenue and earnings than SS&C Technologies. SS&C Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuit, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
85.5% of Intuit shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of SS&C Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Intuit shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.6% of SS&C Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
Intuit pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. SS&C Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Intuit pays out 36.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SS&C Technologies pays out 15.5% 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. Intuit has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and SS&C Technologies has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. SS&C Technologies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Summary
Intuit beats SS&C Technologies on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
