Critical Review: Versant (VSNT) versus Its Competitors

Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT) is one of 259 public companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Versant to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

38.8% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Versant shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.5% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Versant and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Versant	$6.69 billion	$930.00 million	10.66
Versant Competitors	$2.97 billion	-$7.90 million	17.41

Versant has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Versant is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Versant pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Versant pays out 43.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Media” companies pay a dividend yield of 5.2% and pay out 104.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Versant and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Versant	N/A	N/A	N/A
Versant Competitors	-20.21%	-48.09%	-5.13%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Versant and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Versant	0	7	1	0	2.12
Versant Competitors	2246	6868	10823	475	2.47

Versant presently has a consensus price target of $43.20, suggesting a potential upside of 16.47%. As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 26.54%. Given Versant’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Versant has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Versant competitors beat Versant on 8 of the 14 factors compared.

About Versant

Versant Corporation is a provider of data management software. The Company designs, develops, markets and supports database management system products that companies use to solve data management and data integration issues. It also provides related product support, training and consulting services to assist users of the Company’s products in developing and deploying software applications based on its products. The Company’s Versant Object Database product is used primarily by enterprises, which have data management requirements, such as technology providers, telecommunications carriers, Government defense agencies, defense contractors, healthcare companies and companies in the financial services and transportation industries. In addition to its product offerings, to assist users in their development and deployment of applications based on the Versant Object Database, FastObjects and db4o, it offers related professional services.