Emerald (NYSE:EEX) vs. Wag! Group (NASDAQ:PET) Financial Review

Wag! Group (NASDAQ:PET) and Emerald (NYSE:EEX) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Wag! Group has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its stock price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Emerald has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Wag! Group and Emerald’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wag! Group	-29.17%	N/A	-58.54%
Emerald	1.83%	2.03%	0.70%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Wag! Group and Emerald”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wag! Group	$70.51 million	0.03	-$17.57 million	($0.39)	-0.12
Emerald	$398.80 million	2.57	$2.20 million	$0.05	103.46

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

86.2% of Wag! Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.9% of Emerald shares are held by institutional investors. 20.7% of Wag! Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Emerald shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Wag! Group and Emerald, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wag! Group	0	2	1	0	2.33
Emerald	0	0	2	0	3.00

Wag! Group presently has a consensus price target of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 12,374.01%. Emerald has a consensus price target of $7.95, indicating a potential upside of 53.68%. Given Wag! Group’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Wag! Group is more favorable than Emerald.

Summary

Emerald beats Wag! Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wag! Group

Wag! Group Co. develops and supports a proprietary marketplace technology platform available as a website and mobile app that enables independent pet caregivers to connect with pet parents. Its platform allows pet parents, who require specific pet care services, such as dog walking, pet sitting and boarding, advice from licensed pet experts, home visits, training, and pet insurance comparison tools. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Emerald

Emerald Holding, Inc. operates business-to-business (B2B) trade shows in the United States. The company provides B2B trade show franchises; and B2B print publications and digital media products, which provide industry specific business news and information across various sectors. It also offers B2B e-commerce and digital merchandising solutions to manufacturers and retailers through Elastic Suite and Bulletin platforms. The company serves retail, design, technology, equipment, and safety and security. Emerald Holding, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in New York, New York.