Critical Contrast: SEMrush (NYSE:SEMR) versus VIQ Solutions (OTCMKTS:VQSLF)

VIQ Solutions (OTCMKTS:VQSLF) and SEMrush (NYSE:SEMR) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

32.9% of SEMrush shares are owned by institutional investors. 55.6% of SEMrush shares are owned 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for VIQ Solutions and SEMrush, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VIQ Solutions	0	0	0	0	0.00
SEMrush	1	0	0	0	1.00

Given VIQ Solutions’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe VIQ Solutions is more favorable than SEMrush.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares VIQ Solutions and SEMrush”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VIQ Solutions	$31.75 million	0.00	-$11.15 million	($0.50)	N/A
SEMrush	$376.82 million	2.93	$8.24 million	N/A	N/A

SEMrush has higher revenue and earnings than VIQ Solutions.

Risk and Volatility

VIQ Solutions has a beta of -1.16, indicating that its stock price is 216% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEMrush has a beta of 1.64, indicating that its stock price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares VIQ Solutions and SEMrush’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VIQ Solutions	-20.94%	-32.42%	-11.67%
SEMrush	-0.31%	-0.47%	-0.32%

Summary

SEMrush beats VIQ Solutions on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VIQ Solutions

VIQ Solutions Inc. operates as a technology and service platform provider for digital evidence capture, retrieval, and content management in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Technology and Related Revenue, and Technology Services. The Technology segment develops, distributes, and licenses computer-based digital solutions based on its technology. The Technology Services segment provides recording and transcription services. The company offers CapturePro that securely speeds the capture, creation, and management of large volumes of information, as well as preserves and secures the spoken word and video image, and delivers data; MobileMic Pro for capturing and managing incident reports, recorded statements, case notes, and other vital information; NetScribe, a speech-to-text engine to consolidate, accelerate, and optimize transcription workflows; and aiAssist, a multi-tenant workflow and analysis platform to manage, convert, and analyze large volumes of audio and visual content. It also provides legal, criminal justice, insurance, government, corporate finance, and media transcription services. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Mississauga, Canada.

About SEMrush

Semrush Holdings, Inc. develops an online visibility management software-as-a-service platform worldwide. The company enables companies to identify and reach the right audience for their content through the right channels. Its platform enables the company’s customers to understand trends and act upon insights to enhance the online visibility, and drive traffic to their websites and social media pages, as well as online listings, distribute targeted content to their customers, and measure the digital marketing campaigns. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.