Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) and Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
77.0% of Stratasys shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Palo Alto Networks shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Stratasys shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Palo Alto Networks shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk & Volatility
Stratasys has a beta of 1.8, indicating that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palo Alto Networks has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Stratasys and Palo Alto Networks, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Stratasys | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.29 |
| Palo Alto Networks | 1 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 2.87 |
Stratasys presently has a consensus price target of $25.25, indicating a potential upside of 6.14%. Palo Alto Networks has a consensus price target of $381.3030, indicating a potential upside of 9.10%. Given Palo Alto Networks' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Palo Alto Networks is more favorable than Stratasys.
Profitability
This table compares Stratasys and Palo Alto Networks' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Stratasys | -84.95% | -2.91% | -2.42% |
| Palo Alto Networks | -8.36% | -8.66% | -1.16% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Stratasys and Palo Alto Networks' revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Stratasys | $636.08 million | 2.12 | $-10,850,000.00 | $0.21 | 113.29 |
| Palo Alto Networks | $3.41 billion | 9.97 | $-267,000,000.00 | ($1.24) | -281.86 |
Stratasys has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Palo Alto Networks. Palo Alto Networks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stratasys, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Palo Alto Networks beats Stratasys on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
