Critical Comparison: Identiv (NASDAQ:INVE) versus A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions (NASDAQ:AZ)

Identiv (NASDAQ:INVE) and A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions (NASDAQ:AZ) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Identiv and A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Identiv	$21.48 million	2.93	-$18.00 million	($0.66)	-3.94
A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions	$7.90 million	32.70	-$37.74 million	($0.83)	-6.99

Identiv has higher revenue and earnings than A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions. A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Identiv, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Identiv has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Identiv and A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Identiv	1	2	0	0	1.67
A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions	1	1	2	0	2.25

Identiv presently has a consensus price target of $3.40, indicating a potential upside of 30.77%. A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions has a consensus price target of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 158.62%. Given A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions is more favorable than Identiv.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

65.2% of Identiv shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.6% of A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Identiv shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.9% of A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Identiv and A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Identiv	-62.93%	-11.02%	-10.34%
A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions	-241.67%	-49.91%	-43.81%

Summary

Identiv beats A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Identiv

Identiv, Inc., a security technology company, that provides secure identification and physical security solutions that secure things, data, and physical places worldwide. It operates in two segments, Identity and Premises. The Identity segment offers products and solutions that enables secure access to information serving the logical access and cyber security markets, as well as protecting connected objects and information using radio-frequency identification embedded security. The Premises segment provides solutions for premises security market, such as access control, video surveillance, analytics, audio, access readers, and identities to government facilities, schools, utilities, hospitals, stores, and apartment buildings. The company sells its products through dealers, systems integrators, value added resellers, and resellers. The company was formerly known as Identive Group, Inc. and changed its name to Identiv, Inc. in May 2014. Identiv, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.

About A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions

A2Z Smart Technologies Corp., a technology company, focuses on the development and commercialization of retail smart cart solutions for grocery stores and supermarkets in Israel and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Precision Metal Parts, Advanced Engineering, and Smart Carts. It offers Cust2Mate system, which incorporates a smart cart that automatically calculates the value of the customers purchases in their smart cart without having to unload and reload their purchases at a customer checkout point. The company also manufactures and sells precision metal parts; provides retail automation solutions; and develops Fuel Tank Inertia Capsule System technology (FTICS), a vehicle device cover for the military and civilian automotive industry. In addition, it provides maintenance services utilizing the application of advanced engineering capabilities to the military and security markets, as well as develops related products for the civilian and retail markets; container leasing services; and maintenance services for complex electronic systems and products. It serves its products to grocery stores, hardware stores, household essentials, do it yourself (DIY) retailers, discount stores, warehouse stores, convenience stores, drug stores, duty free shops, and similar outlets. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.