Contrasting Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI) & Smiths Group (OTCMKTS:SMGZY)

Smiths Group (OTCMKTS:SMGZY) and Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Smiths Group and Veritone’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smiths Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Veritone	-42.60%	-361.72%	-20.95%

Risk & Volatility

Smiths Group has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Veritone has a beta of 2.03, indicating that its share price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.2% of Veritone shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.0% of Veritone shares are owned 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Smiths Group and Veritone, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smiths Group	0	2	0	1	2.67
Veritone	1	1	4	1	2.71

Veritone has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 145.70%. Given Veritone’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Veritone is more favorable than Smiths Group.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Smiths Group and Veritone”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smiths Group	$3.79 billion	3.07	$356.09 million	N/A	N/A
Veritone	$92.64 million	4.03	-$37.38 million	($0.67)	-6.07

Smiths Group has higher revenue and earnings than Veritone.

Summary

Veritone beats Smiths Group on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smiths Group

Smiths Group plc operates as a technology company in Americas, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through four divisions: John Crane, Smiths Detection, Flex-Tek, and Smiths Interconnect. The John Crane division offers mechanical seals, seal support systems, power transmission couplings, and specialized filtration systems. The Smiths Detection division provides sensors and systems that detect and identify explosives, narcotics, weapons, chemical agents, biohazards, and contraband. The Flex-Tek division offers engineered components, flexible hosing, and rigid tubing that heat and move fluids and gases. The Smiths Interconnect division provides specialized electronic and radio frequency board-level and waveguide devices, connectors, cables, test sockets, and sub-systems used in secure connectivity applications. The company serves general industrial, safety and security, energy, and aerospace markets. The company was formerly known as Smiths Industries and changed its name to Smiths Group plc in 2000. Smiths Group plc was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Veritone

Veritone, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of artificial intelligence (AI) computing solutions and services in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Israel, and India. It develops and operates aiWARE platform, an AI operating system, that uses machine learning algorithms or AI models designed to mimic human cognitive functions, such as perception, prediction, and problem solving and optimization, as well as enables users to transform unstructured data into structured data, and analyze and optimize data to drive business processes and insights. The company also provides media advertising agency services, including media planning and strategy, media buying and placement, campaign messaging, clearance verification and attribution, and custom analytics directly to advertisers through outbound sales networking, and client and partner referrals, as well as indirectly through advertising agencies or marketing consultants. It serves media and entertainment, government, legal and compliance, energy, and other vertical markets. The company was formerly known as Veritone Delaware, Inc. and changed its name to Veritone, Inc. in July 2014. Veritone, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.