Financial Comparison: FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) & Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB)

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) and Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for FactSet Research Systems and Dun & Bradstreet, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FactSet Research Systems	3	6	0	0	1.67
Dun & Bradstreet	0	6	0	0	2.00

FactSet Research Systems presently has a consensus target price of $444.25, indicating a potential upside of 16.66%. Dun & Bradstreet has a consensus target price of $11.63, indicating a potential upside of 27.73%. Given Dun & Bradstreet’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Dun & Bradstreet is more favorable than FactSet Research Systems.

Profitability

This table compares FactSet Research Systems and Dun & Bradstreet’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FactSet Research Systems	23.30%	31.59%	15.37%
Dun & Bradstreet	-1.60%	11.06%	4.17%

Dividends

FactSet Research Systems pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Dun & Bradstreet pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. FactSet Research Systems pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Dun & Bradstreet pays out -166.7% 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. FactSet Research Systems has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years. Dun & Bradstreet is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

FactSet Research Systems has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dun & Bradstreet has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares FactSet Research Systems and Dun & Bradstreet”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FactSet Research Systems	$2.20 billion	6.54	$537.13 million	$13.84	27.51
Dun & Bradstreet	$2.38 billion	1.71	-$28.60 million	($0.09)	-101.17

FactSet Research Systems has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Dun & Bradstreet. Dun & Bradstreet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FactSet Research Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.2% of FactSet Research Systems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Dun & Bradstreet shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of FactSet Research Systems shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Dun & Bradstreet shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

FactSet Research Systems beats Dun & Bradstreet on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FactSet Research Systems

FactSet Research Systems Inc., a financial data company, provides integrated financial information and analytical applications to the investment community in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company delivers insight and information through the workflow solutions of research, analytics and trading, content and technology solutions, and wealth. It serves portfolio managers, investment banks, asset managers, wealth advisors, corporate clients, and other financial services entities. FactSet Research Systems Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

About Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. engages in providing business decisioning data and analytics solutions. The firm is involved in providing information with its solutions to support its clients with critical business operations. It offers end-to-end solutions to clients in the small business, finance, sales & marketing, third party risk & compliance, and public sectors. The company was founded on August 8, 2018, and is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL.