Head-To-Head Comparison: CSP (NASDAQ:CSPI) vs. VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME)

VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME) and CSP (NASDAQ:CSPI) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

13.1% of VerifyMe shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of CSP shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.1% of VerifyMe shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of CSP shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares VerifyMe and CSP’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VerifyMe	$19.58 million	0.61	-$14.40 million	($0.31)	-3.87
CSP	$66.01 million	1.36	$1.89 million	$1.11	17.09

CSP has higher revenue and earnings than VerifyMe. VerifyMe is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CSP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for VerifyMe and CSP, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VerifyMe	0	0	2	0	3.00
CSP	0	0	0	0	N/A

VerifyMe currently has a consensus price target of $2.85, suggesting a potential upside of 137.50%. Given VerifyMe’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe VerifyMe is more favorable than CSP.

Profitability

This table compares VerifyMe and CSP’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VerifyMe	-11.23%	-19.54%	-13.40%
CSP	7.42%	11.85%	7.05%

Risk & Volatility

VerifyMe has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CSP has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

CSP beats VerifyMe on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VerifyMe

VerifyMe, Inc., together with its subsidiary, PeriShip Global, LLC, operates as a technology solutions provider that specializes in products to connect brands with consumers and providing brands with end-to-end logistics management for their products. The company operates through two segments, VerifyMe Solutions and PeriShip Global Solutions. The VerifyMe Solutions segment offers technology solutions to connect brands with consumers allowing brand owners to gather business intelligence while engaging directly with their consumers. Its solutions provide brand protection and supply chain functions, such as counterfeit prevention, traceability, consumer engagement solutions, and authentication for labels, packaging, and products, as well as tamper-proof labels. The PeriShip Global Solutions segment offers predictive analytics for optimizing delivery of time and temperature sensitive perishable products. This segment's products include PeriTrack customer dashboard, an integrated web portal tool gives its customers an in-depth look at their shipping activities based on real-time data. It also provides call center, pre-transit, post-delivery, and weather/traffic services. The company has a strategic partnership with INX International Ink Company. The company was formerly known as LaserLock Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to VerifyMe, Inc. in July 2015. VerifyMe, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida.

About CSP

CSP Inc. develops and markets IT integration solutions, security products, managed IT services, cloud services, purpose built network adapters, and cluster computer systems for commercial and defense customers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Technology Solutions and High Performance Products. The Technology Solutions segment provides third-party computer hardware and software as a value added reseller to various customers in web and infrastructure hosting, education, telecommunications, healthcare services, distribution, financial and professional services, and manufacturing industries. This segment also offers professional IT consulting services, such as planning, designing, assessment, implementation, migration, optimization, and project management; storage and virtualization solutions; enterprise security intrusion prevention, network access control, and unified threat management services; and IT security compliance services. In addition, this segment provides unified communications, wireless, and routing and switching solutions; custom software applications and solutions development and support services; optimization, maintenance, and technical support services; and managed IT services, such as monitoring, reporting, and management of alerts for the resolution and preventive general IT, as well as IT security support tasks. Further, this segment offers managed and cloud services, such as proactive monitoring and remote management of IT infrastructure, managed and hosted unified communication services, security, and backup and replication. The High Performance Products segment offers ARIA Software-Defined Security, a cybersecurity solution; Myricom network adapters; and multicomputer products for digital signal processing applications in the defense markets. CSP Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts.