F5 (FFIV) Competitors

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) and Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, community ranking, risk, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, FFIV or JNPR?

F5 has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Juniper Networks. F5 is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Juniper Networks, 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
F5	$2.82B	5.68	$566.78M	$9.56	28.55
Juniper Networks	$5.56B	2.32	$310.20M	$0.76	51.22

Do analysts prefer FFIV or JNPR?

F5 presently has a consensus target price of $251.25, indicating a potential downside of 7.94%. Juniper Networks has a consensus target price of $39.25, indicating a potential upside of 0.83%. Given Juniper Networks' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Juniper Networks is more favorable than F5.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
F5	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.13
Juniper Networks	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Is FFIV or JNPR more profitable?

F5 has a net margin of 20.13% compared to Juniper Networks' net margin of 4.97%. F5's return on equity of 20.80% beat Juniper Networks' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
F5	20.13%	20.80%	11.41%
Juniper Networks	4.97%	7.41%	3.53%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FFIV or JNPR?

90.7% of F5 shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.0% of Juniper Networks shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of F5 shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Juniper Networks shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor FFIV or JNPR?

In the previous week, F5 had 13 more articles in the media than Juniper Networks. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for F5 and 5 mentions for Juniper Networks. Juniper Networks' average media sentiment score of 1.65 beat F5's score of 0.77 indicating that Juniper Networks is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
F5	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Juniper Networks	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FFIV or JNPR?

F5 received 219 more outperform votes than Juniper Networks when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.82% of users gave F5 an outperform vote while only 59.01% of users gave Juniper Networks an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
F5	Outperform Votes 1293 66.82%	Underperform Votes 642 33.18%
Juniper Networks	Outperform Votes 1074 59.01%	Underperform Votes 746 40.99%

Which has more volatility and risk, FFIV or JNPR?

F5 has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Juniper Networks has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

F5 beats Juniper Networks on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.