Great Elm Group (NASDAQ:GEG) & Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Head to Head Contrast

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) and Great Elm Group (NASDAQ:GEG) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vertex and Great Elm Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vertex	$643.23 million	12.98	-$13.09 million	$0.18	297.39
Great Elm Group	$18.52 million	3.05	-$1.39 million	($0.05)	-38.00

Great Elm Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Vertex. Great Elm Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vertex, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.3% of Vertex shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of Great Elm Group shares are held by institutional investors. 44.6% of Vertex shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 51.8% of Great Elm Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Vertex has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Elm Group has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vertex and Great Elm Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vertex	4.73%	24.92%	6.65%
Great Elm Group	-6.90%	-1.77%	-0.89%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Vertex and Great Elm Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vertex	0	3	7	1	2.82
Great Elm Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Vertex presently has a consensus target price of $54.70, indicating a potential upside of 2.19%. Given Vertex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vertex is more favorable than Great Elm Group.

Summary

Vertex beats Great Elm Group on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vertex

Vertex, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise tax technology solutions for retail trade, wholesale trade, and manufacturing industries in the United States and internationally. The company offers tax determination; compliance and reporting, including workflow management tools, role-based security, and event logging; tax data management; document management; analytics and insights; pre-built integration that includes mapping data fields, and business logic and configurations; industry-specific solutions; and technology specific solutions, such as chain flow accelerator and SAP-specific tools. It provides implementation services, such as configuration, data migration and implementation, and support and training; and managed services, including tax return preparation, filing and tax payment, and notice management. The company sells its software products through software licenses and software as a service subscription. Vertex, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

About Great Elm Group

Great Elm Group, Inc. operates as a asset management company. The company engages in credit, real estate, and finance businesses. It is also involved in business development related activities and offers investment management services. The company was formerly known as Great Elm Capital Group, Inc. and changed its name to Great Elm Group, Inc. in December 2020. Great Elm Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.