Appian (APPN) Competitors

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) and Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, community ranking and media sentiment.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in APPN or PCTY?

52.7% of Appian shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Paylocity shares are held by institutional investors. 44.0% of Appian shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 21.9% of Paylocity shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer APPN or PCTY?

Appian presently has a consensus price target of $40.17, suggesting a potential upside of 22.31%. Paylocity has a consensus price target of $210.64, suggesting a potential upside of 6.53%. Given Appian's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Appian is more favorable than Paylocity.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Appian	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Paylocity	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is APPN or PCTY more profitable?

Paylocity has a net margin of 15.32% compared to Appian's net margin of -14.88%. Paylocity's return on equity of 22.92% beat Appian's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Appian	-14.88%	-532.05%	-10.11%
Paylocity	15.32%	22.92%	5.47%

Which has more risk and volatility, APPN or PCTY?

Appian has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paylocity has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to APPN or PCTY?

In the previous week, Paylocity had 2 more articles in the media than Appian. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Paylocity and 7 mentions for Appian. Appian's average media sentiment score of 0.86 beat Paylocity's score of 0.53 indicating that Appian is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Appian	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Paylocity	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation & earnings, APPN or PCTY?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Appian	$545.36M	5.14	-$111.44M	-$1.22	-26.92
Paylocity	$1.40B	7.86	$206.77M	$3.91	50.57

Does the MarketBeat Community favor APPN or PCTY?

Paylocity received 220 more outperform votes than Appian when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.83% of users gave Paylocity an outperform vote while only 60.71% of users gave Appian an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Appian	Outperform Votes 343 60.71%	Underperform Votes 222 39.29%
Paylocity	Outperform Votes 563 67.83%	Underperform Votes 267 32.17%

Summary

Paylocity beats Appian on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.