Reviewing Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) & Asure Software (NASDAQ:ASUR)

Asure Software (NASDAQ:ASUR) and Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Asure Software and Willdan Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Asure Software	$140.54 million	1.62	-$13.13 million	($0.29)	-27.14
Willdan Group	$741.84 million	1.63	$52.56 million	$4.26	18.59

Willdan Group has higher revenue and earnings than Asure Software. Asure Software is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Willdan Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Asure Software has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Willdan Group has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

71.6% of Asure Software shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.3% of Willdan Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.9% of Asure Software shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Willdan Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Asure Software and Willdan Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Asure Software	-5.42%	8.19%	3.27%
Willdan Group	8.80%	24.51%	13.92%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Asure Software and Willdan Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Asure Software	1	1	2	1	2.60
Willdan Group	0	2	1	0	2.33

Asure Software presently has a consensus price target of $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 65.18%. Willdan Group has a consensus price target of $127.50, indicating a potential upside of 60.98%. Given Asure Software’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Asure Software is more favorable than Willdan Group.

Summary

Willdan Group beats Asure Software on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Asure Software

Asure Software, Inc. engages in the provision of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions in the United States. It provides its human resources (HR) tool as Software-as-a-Service that helps various small and medium-sized businesses to build productive workforce to help them stay compliant and allocate resources to grow their business. The company's solutions include Asure Payroll & Tax, an integrated solution that simplifies payroll and automates regulations associated with payroll and taxes, including wages, benefits, overtime, garnishments, tips, direct deposits, and fair labor standard act, as well as federal, state, and local payroll taxes; and Tax Management Solutions, that provides payroll tax processing software and service solutions, as well as bulk filing and processing support of employee retention tax credits, for the payroll service industry, mid-market, and corporate employers. It also provides HR compliance and services, including HR support, which provides an on-demand HR resource library, phone, and email support for various HR issues and compliance, and policy updates; Strategic HR, which provides in-depth support for strategic HR decision making; and Total HR, which provides a complete HR outsourcing solution, for handling HR complexities, such as employee self-service, applicant tracking, onboarding, and compliance. In addition, the company offers Time and Attendance, which provides cost savings and return on investment gains come in the form of strategic use of labor dollars and the elimination of time theft; and AsureMarketplace that automates interactions between its HCM systems with third-party providers. Asure Software, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Willdan Group

Willdan Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides professional, technical, and consulting services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Energy, and Engineering and Consulting. The Energy segment offers comprehensive audit and surveys, program design and implementation, master planning, demand reduction, grid optimization, benchmarking analyses, design engineering, construction management, performance contracting, installation, alternative financing, measurement and verification services, and software and data analytics, as well as energy consulting and engineering, turnkey facility and infrastructure projects, and customer support services. The Engineering and Consulting segment provides building and safety, city engineering and code enforcement, development plan review and inspection, disaster recovery, geotechnical and earthquake engineering, planning and surveying, contract staff support, program and construction management, structural engineering, transportation and traffic engineering, and water resources services. This segment also offers district administration, financial consulting, and federal compliance services. It serves public and governmental agencies, including cities, counties, redevelopment agencies, water districts, school districts, and universities; investor and municipal owned energy utilities; state and federal agencies; and commercial and industrial firms, as well as various other special districts and agencies. The company was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Anaheim, California.