Paylocity (PCTY) Competitors

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) and Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, profitability, community ranking, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in PCTY or NET?

94.8% of Paylocity shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of Cloudflare shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.9% of Paylocity shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.8% of Cloudflare shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to PCTY or NET?

In the previous week, Cloudflare had 42 more articles in the media than Paylocity. MarketBeat recorded 53 mentions for Cloudflare and 11 mentions for Paylocity. Paylocity's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat Cloudflare's score of 0.70 indicating that Paylocity is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Paylocity	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cloudflare	31 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is PCTY or NET more profitable?

Paylocity has a net margin of 14.76% compared to Cloudflare's net margin of -4.72%. Paylocity's return on equity of 22.45% beat Cloudflare's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Paylocity	14.76%	22.45%	5.35%
Cloudflare	-4.72%	-5.52%	-1.67%

Which has better valuation & earnings, PCTY or NET?

Paylocity has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cloudflare. Cloudflare 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
Paylocity	$1.50B	7.32	$206.77M	$3.90	50.35
Cloudflare	$1.67B	26.23	-$78.80M	-$0.22	-576.97

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer PCTY or NET?

Paylocity received 373 more outperform votes than Cloudflare when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.93% of users gave Paylocity an outperform vote while only 49.50% of users gave Cloudflare an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Paylocity	Outperform Votes 572 67.93%	Underperform Votes 270 32.07%
Cloudflare	Outperform Votes 199 49.50%	Underperform Votes 203 50.50%

Which has more volatility and risk, PCTY or NET?

Paylocity has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cloudflare has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend PCTY or NET?

Paylocity presently has a consensus price target of $233.25, indicating a potential upside of 18.77%. Cloudflare has a consensus price target of $135.64, indicating a potential upside of 6.86%. Given Paylocity's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Paylocity is more favorable than Cloudflare.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Paylocity	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
Cloudflare	3 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.37

Summary

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