VeriSign (VRSN) Competitors

SEA (NYSE:SE) and VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in SE or VRSN?

59.5% of SEA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of VeriSign shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of SEA shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of VeriSign shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is SE or VRSN more profitable?

VeriSign has a net margin of 50.05% compared to SEA's net margin of 4.87%. SEA's return on equity of 10.74% beat VeriSign's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SEA	4.87%	10.74%	3.98%
VeriSign	50.05%	-40.87%	55.90%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, SE or VRSN?

VeriSign has lower revenue, but higher earnings than SEA. VeriSign is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SEA, 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
SEA	$16.82B	5.17	$444.32M	$1.42	104.05
VeriSign	$1.56B	16.31	$785.70M	$8.38	32.45

Do analysts rate SE or VRSN?

SEA presently has a consensus target price of $159.82, indicating a potential upside of 8.17%. VeriSign has a consensus target price of $277.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.06%. Given SEA's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SEA is more favorable than VeriSign.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SEA	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92
VeriSign	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33

Which has more volatility & risk, SE or VRSN?

SEA has a beta of 1.58, indicating that its stock price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, VeriSign has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor SE or VRSN?

In the previous week, VeriSign had 4 more articles in the media than SEA. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for VeriSign and 19 mentions for SEA. SEA's average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat VeriSign's score of 1.14 indicating that SEA is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
SEA	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
VeriSign	15 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

VeriSign beats SEA on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.