VeriSign (VRSN) Competitors

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) and SEA (NYSE:SE) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, community ranking and media sentiment.

Is VRSN or SE a better dividend stock?

VeriSign pays an annual dividend of $3.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. SEA pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign pays out 37.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SEA pays out 123.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Is VRSN or SE more profitable?

VeriSign has a net margin of 50.47% compared to SEA's net margin of 0.64%. SEA's return on equity of 1.40% beat VeriSign's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VeriSign	50.47%	-43.01%	51.54%
SEA	0.64%	1.40%	0.50%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor VRSN or SE?

SEA received 119 more outperform votes than VeriSign when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.44% of users gave SEA an outperform vote while only 62.28% of users gave VeriSign an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
VeriSign	Outperform Votes 398 62.28%	Underperform Votes 241 37.72%
SEA	Outperform Votes 517 63.44%	Underperform Votes 298 36.56%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, VRSN or SE?

VeriSign has higher earnings, but lower revenue than SEA. VeriSign is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SEA, 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
VeriSign	$1.58B	16.60	$785.70M	$8.18	34.05
SEA	$17.93B	5.16	$150.73M	$1.42	110.59

Do analysts prefer VRSN or SE?

VeriSign presently has a consensus price target of $267.50, suggesting a potential downside of 3.95%. SEA has a consensus price target of $147.15, suggesting a potential downside of 6.30%. Given VeriSign's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe VeriSign is more favorable than SEA.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VeriSign	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33
SEA	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.93

Does the media favor VRSN or SE?

In the previous week, VeriSign had 6 more articles in the media than SEA. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for VeriSign and 12 mentions for SEA. VeriSign's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat SEA's score of 1.07 indicating that VeriSign is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
VeriSign	16 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
SEA	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, VRSN or SE?

VeriSign has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEA has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its stock price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in VRSN or SE?

92.9% of VeriSign shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.5% of SEA shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of VeriSign shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of SEA shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

VeriSign beats SEA on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.