Data Storage (DTST) Competitors

MultiPlan (NYSE:MPLN) and Data Storage (NASDAQ:DTST) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, community ranking, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, media sentiment, risk, earnings and valuation.

Is MPLN or DTST more profitable?

Data Storage has a net margin of 0.64% compared to MultiPlan's net margin of -163.30%. Data Storage's return on equity of 0.79% beat MultiPlan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MultiPlan	-163.30%	-12.14%	-1.84%
Data Storage	0.64%	0.79%	0.66%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, MPLN or DTST?

Data Storage has lower revenue, but higher earnings than MultiPlan. MultiPlan is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Data Storage, 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
MultiPlan	$961.52M	0.11	-$91.70M	-$95.05	-0.07
Data Storage	$24.96M	1.10	$380K	$0.02	195.00

Which has more risk & volatility, MPLN or DTST?

MultiPlan has a beta of 0.46, indicating that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Data Storage has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer MPLN or DTST?

MultiPlan currently has a consensus price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 287.60%. Given MultiPlan's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe MultiPlan is more favorable than Data Storage.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MultiPlan	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Data Storage	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of MPLN or DTST?

87.2% of MultiPlan shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.6% of Data Storage shares are held by institutional investors. 8.0% of MultiPlan shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 42.2% of Data Storage shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to MPLN or DTST?

In the previous week, Data Storage had 8 more articles in the media than MultiPlan. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Data Storage and 1 mentions for MultiPlan. MultiPlan's average media sentiment score of 1.90 beat Data Storage's score of 0.01 indicating that MultiPlan is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
MultiPlan	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Data Storage	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MPLN or DTST?

Data Storage received 65 more outperform votes than MultiPlan when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.12% of users gave Data Storage an outperform vote while only 37.04% of users gave MultiPlan an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
MultiPlan	Outperform Votes 10 37.04%	Underperform Votes 17 62.96%
Data Storage	Outperform Votes 75 72.12%	Underperform Votes 29 27.88%

Summary

Data Storage beats MultiPlan on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.