Head-To-Head Analysis: NIQ Global Intelligence (NYSE:NIQ) versus Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT)

Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT) and NIQ Global Intelligence (NYSE:NIQ) are both mid-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Versant and NIQ Global Intelligence, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Versant	0	7	2	0	2.22
NIQ Global Intelligence	1	2	7	1	2.73

Versant currently has a consensus price target of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 36.64%. NIQ Global Intelligence has a consensus price target of $18.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.33%. Given Versant’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Versant is more favorable than NIQ Global Intelligence.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Versant and NIQ Global Intelligence”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Versant	$6.60 billion	0.66	$930.00 million	$3.48	9.04
NIQ Global Intelligence	$4.39 billion	1.16	-$353.30 million	($1.22)	-14.13

Versant has higher revenue and earnings than NIQ Global Intelligence. NIQ Global Intelligence is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Versant, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Versant pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. NIQ Global Intelligence pays an annual dividend of $0.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Versant pays out 43.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NIQ Global Intelligence pays out -27.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Profitability

This table compares Versant and NIQ Global Intelligence’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Versant	N/A	N/A	N/A
NIQ Global Intelligence	-8.01%	14.84%	2.60%

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.

About NIQ Global Intelligence

Nuveen Intermediate Duration Quality Municipal Term Fund is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments Inc. The fund is co-managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors LLC and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests into public fixed income markets of the United States. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies that are operating across diversified sectors. It primarily invests in municipal securities that are exempt from federal income taxes, and seeks to maintain a portfolio with an intermediate effective duration of between 3 and 10 years, including the effects of leverage. The fund invests at least 80% of its managed assets in municipal securities rated investment grade i.e. Baa/BBB or at the time of investment. It employs fundamental analysis, with focus on bottom-up approach to create its portfolio. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P Municipal Bond Intermediate Index and a composite index comprising 50% of S&P Municipal Bond Intermediate Index and 50% of the S&P Municipal Bond High Yield Index. Nuveen Intermediate Duration Quality Municipal Term Fund was founded on February 7,2012 and is domiciled in the United States.