Head to Head Comparison: Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) and BlackSky Technology (NYSE:BKSY)

BlackSky Technology (NYSE:BKSY) and Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

BlackSky Technology has a beta of 2.84, indicating that its share price is 184% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paylocity has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

27.1% of BlackSky Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Paylocity shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of BlackSky Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of Paylocity shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BlackSky Technology and Paylocity”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BlackSky Technology	$132.15 million	7.46	-$70.26 million	($1.28)	-18.61
Paylocity	$1.77 billion	5.24	$269.74 million	$5.16	34.63

Paylocity has higher revenue and earnings than BlackSky Technology. BlackSky Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Paylocity, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares BlackSky Technology and Paylocity’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BlackSky Technology	-24.86%	-29.64%	-10.24%
Paylocity	15.40%	27.59%	5.87%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for BlackSky Technology and Paylocity, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BlackSky Technology	1	1	2	1	2.60
Paylocity	0	5	12	0	2.71

BlackSky Technology currently has a consensus target price of $31.67, suggesting a potential upside of 32.97%. Paylocity has a consensus target price of $177.82, suggesting a potential downside of 0.47%. Given BlackSky Technology’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe BlackSky Technology is more favorable than Paylocity.

Summary

Paylocity beats BlackSky Technology on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BlackSky Technology

BlackSky Technology provides geospatial intelligence services by combining satellite imagery, artificial intelligence and data analytics. Its platform is designed to help customers monitor locations and identify changes on the ground over time. The company’s offerings include satellite-based imagery and analytics delivered through its Spectra platform. BlackSky serves government and commercial customers, including organizations in the defense and intelligence sectors, with information intended to support monitoring and decision-making around the world.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation provides cloud-based human capital management and payroll software to businesses in the United States. Its platform brings together tools that help employers manage payroll, human resources, benefits, and workforce operations. Products and services include payroll processing, benefits administration, time and labor management, talent acquisition and development, employee communications, and expense management. The platform is designed to help organizations streamline administrative work and support employees and managers through a unified system.