Critical Survey: Provision (OTCMKTS:PVHO) and TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT)

Provision (OTCMKTS:PVHO) and TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Provision and TechTarget’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Provision	N/A	N/A	N/A
TechTarget	-232.59%	-16.76%	-11.15%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Provision and TechTarget”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Provision	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
TechTarget	$446.51 million	0.85	-$116.86 million	($1.73)	-3.03

Provision has higher earnings, but lower revenue than TechTarget.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.5% of TechTarget shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of TechTarget shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Provision and TechTarget, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Provision	0	0	0	0	0.00
TechTarget	2	1	3	0	2.17

TechTarget has a consensus target price of $11.25, suggesting a potential upside of 114.69%. Given TechTarget’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe TechTarget is more favorable than Provision.

Summary

TechTarget beats Provision on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Provision

Provision Holding, Inc. focuses on the development and distribution of three-dimensional (3D) holographic interactive video displays primarily for advertising and product merchandising markets. The company's products include HoloVision displays and 3D Savings Center kiosks that offer advertisers and customers to reach captive audience in grocery stores, malls, convenience stores, gas stations, banks, and other retail locations. Its HoloVision displays are also used in education, medical, entertainment, and consumer applications. Provision Holding, Inc. has a strategic alliance agreement with Coinstar, LLC to develop and integrate HoloVision display systems into Coinstar's kiosks. The company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California.

About TechTarget

TechTarget, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides marketing and sales services that deliver business impact for business-to-business technology companies in North America and internationally. The company's service enables technology vendors to identify, reach, and influence corporate information technology (IT) decision-makers actively researching specific IT purchases; and customized marketing programs that integrate demand generation, brand advertising techniques, and content curation and creation. It offers business to business services, such as IT Deal Alert, a suite of data, software, and services comprising Priority Engine and Qualified Sales Opportunities to identify and prioritize accounts and individuals actively researching new technology purchases or upgrades; demand solutions provides marketing programs, including white papers, webcasts, podcasts, videocasts, virtual trade shows, and content sponsorships; brand solutions which includes on-network banner advertising and digital sponsorships, off-network banner targeting, and microsites and related formats; custom content creation that delivers market insights and guidance to technology companies and off-the-shelf editorial sponsorship products on topics aligned to customer markets; and BrightTALK platform which allows customers to create, host and promote webinars, virtual events, and video content. In addition, the company operates websites, webinars, and virtual event channels that focus on a specific IT sector, such as storage, security, or networking; and enables registered members to conduct their pre-purchase research by accessing vendor supplied content through its virtual event and webinar channels, and website networks. TechTarget, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.