Reviewing Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) & Great Elm Group (NASDAQ:GEG)

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) and Great Elm Group (NASDAQ:GEG) 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, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Vertex and Great Elm Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vertex	0	3	7	1	2.82
Great Elm Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Vertex currently has a consensus price target of $54.70, indicating a potential upside of 2.19%. Given Vertex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Vertex is more favorable than Great Elm Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vertex and Great Elm Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vertex	$643.23 million	12.98	-$13.09 million	$0.18	297.39
Great Elm Group	$18.52 million	3.05	-$1.39 million	($0.05)	-38.00

Great Elm Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Vertex. Great Elm Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vertex, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Vertex and Great Elm Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vertex	4.73%	24.92%	6.65%
Great Elm Group	-6.90%	-1.77%	-0.89%

Volatility & Risk

Vertex has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Elm Group has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.3% of Vertex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of Great Elm Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.6% of Vertex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 51.8% of Great Elm Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Vertex beats Great Elm Group on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vertex

Vertex, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise tax technology solutions for retail trade, wholesale trade, and manufacturing industries in the United States and internationally. The company offers tax determination; compliance and reporting, including workflow management tools, role-based security, and event logging; tax data management; document management; analytics and insights; pre-built integration that includes mapping data fields, and business logic and configurations; industry-specific solutions; and technology specific solutions, such as chain flow accelerator and SAP-specific tools. It provides implementation services, such as configuration, data migration and implementation, and support and training; and managed services, including tax return preparation, filing and tax payment, and notice management. The company sells its software products through software licenses and software as a service subscription. Vertex, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

About Great Elm Group

Great Elm Group, Inc. operates as a asset management company. The company engages in credit, real estate, and finance businesses. It is also involved in business development related activities and offers investment management services. The company was formerly known as Great Elm Capital Group, Inc. and changed its name to Great Elm Group, Inc. in December 2020. Great Elm Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.