Head to Head Comparison: Viewtran Group (OTCMKTS:VIEWF) versus Bridgeline Digital (NASDAQ:BLIN)

Viewtran Group (OTCMKTS:VIEWF) and Bridgeline Digital (NASDAQ:BLIN) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.1% of Bridgeline Digital shares are held by institutional investors. 29.2% of Viewtran Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.5% of Bridgeline Digital shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Viewtran Group and Bridgeline Digital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viewtran Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bridgeline Digital	-16.37%	-25.40%	-15.73%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Viewtran Group and Bridgeline Digital”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viewtran Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bridgeline Digital	$15.38 million	0.58	-$2.52 million	($0.26)	-2.82

Viewtran Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Bridgeline Digital.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Viewtran Group and Bridgeline Digital, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viewtran Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bridgeline Digital	1	1	1	0	2.00

Bridgeline Digital has a consensus target price of $4.62, indicating a potential upside of 529.94%. Given Bridgeline Digital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Bridgeline Digital is more favorable than Viewtran Group.

Volatility and Risk

Viewtran Group has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bridgeline Digital has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Viewtran Group

Viewtran Group, Inc. provides supply chain financial services and enterprise solutions for the technology industry in China. It offers software development and technical deployment services; and hardware, software, and technical services. The company was formerly known as Cogo Group, Inc. and changed its name to Viewtran Group, Inc. in November 2013. Viewtran Group, Inc. is based in Shenzhen, China.

About Bridgeline Digital

Bridgeline Digital, Inc. operates as a marketing technology company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company offers HawkSearch, a site search, recommendation, and personalization application for marketers, merchandisers, and developers; Celebros Search, a commerce-oriented site search product that provides natural language processing with artificial intelligence; and Woorank, a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) audit tool that generates an instant performance audit of the site's technical, on-page, and off-page SEO. It also provides Bridgeline TruPresence, a web content management and eCommerce platform to support the needs of multi-unit organizations and franchises; Bridgeline Unbound, a technology suite that empower marketers to easily manage their digital experiences and create personalized customer journeys; and OrchestraCMS, a digital experience platform that enables development of custom solutions, third-party integrations, and delivery of digital transformation initiatives on the Salesforce platform. In addition, the company offers digital engagement services comprising digital strategy, web design and web development, usability engineering, information architecture, and SEO, as well as hosting services. It serves vertical markets, such as industrial distributors and wholesalers, franchises and enterprises, manufacturers, eCommerce retailers, health services and life sciences, technology, credit unions and banks, and associations and foundations through its direct sales force. The company was formerly known as Bridgeline Software, Inc. Bridgeline Digital, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is based in Woburn, Massachusetts.