Critical Contrast: HeartCore Enterprises (NASDAQ:HTCR) and VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN)

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) and HeartCore Enterprises (NASDAQ:HTCR) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Volatility and Risk

VeriSign has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HeartCore Enterprises has a beta of 1.98, indicating that its stock price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares VeriSign and HeartCore Enterprises”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VeriSign	$1.63 billion	14.08	$785.70 million	$8.58	28.80
HeartCore Enterprises	$30.41 million	0.26	-$1.48 million	($0.61)	-0.52

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

Profitability

This table compares VeriSign and HeartCore Enterprises’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VeriSign	49.86%	-40.66%	57.26%
HeartCore Enterprises	-67.96%	-252.45%	-43.14%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for VeriSign and HeartCore Enterprises, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VeriSign	1	2	2	0	2.20
HeartCore Enterprises	1	1	0	0	1.50

VeriSign presently has a consensus price target of $282.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.11%. Given VeriSign’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe VeriSign is more favorable than HeartCore Enterprises.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.9% of VeriSign shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.7% of HeartCore Enterprises shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of VeriSign shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 57.4% of HeartCore Enterprises shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

VeriSign beats HeartCore Enterprises on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce. It operates directory for .name and .cc; and back-end systems for .edu, domain names. VeriSign, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

About HeartCore Enterprises

HeartCore Enterprises, Inc., a software development company, provides Software as a Service solutions to enterprise customers in Japan and internationally. Its customer experience management platform includes marketing, sales, service, and content management systems, as well as other tools and integrations, which enable companies to enhance the customer experience and drive engagement. The company also operates a digital transformation business that offers customers with robotics process automation, process mining, and task mining to accelerate the digital transformation of enterprises. In addition, it provides consulting services; and education, services, and support solutions. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.