MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) versus MarketWise (NASDAQ:MKTW) Critical Contrast

MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNKGet Free Report) and MarketWise (NASDAQ:MKTWGet Free Report) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for MeridianLink and MarketWise, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
MeridianLink 2 3 2 0 2.00
MarketWise 0 1 0 0 2.00

MeridianLink presently has a consensus target price of $22.08, suggesting a potential upside of 16.44%. MarketWise has a consensus target price of $2.00, suggesting a potential upside of 207.88%. Given MarketWise’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe MarketWise is more favorable than MeridianLink.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

82.7% of MeridianLink shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.0% of MarketWise shares are held by institutional investors. 21.3% of MeridianLink shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.6% of MarketWise shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares MeridianLink and MarketWise’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
MeridianLink -16.57% -9.57% -4.47%
MarketWise 1.20% -1.89% 1.50%

Volatility and Risk

MeridianLink has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, MarketWise has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares MeridianLink and MarketWise”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio
MeridianLink $303.62 million 4.72 -$42.54 million ($0.67) -28.31
MarketWise $423.38 million 0.50 $1.78 million $0.12 5.41

MarketWise has higher revenue and earnings than MeridianLink. MeridianLink is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MarketWise, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

MarketWise beats MeridianLink on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MeridianLink

(Get Free Report)

MeridianLink, Inc., a software and services company, provides software solutions for banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, specialty lending providers, and consumer reporting agencies in the United States. The company offers MeridianLink One, a multi-product platform that can be tailored to meet the needs of customers as they digitally transform their organizations and adapt to changing business and consumer demands; MeridianLink Portal, a Point of Sale system that allows financial institutions to expand existing lending and deposit account; MeridianLink Opening, a cloud-based online account opening and deposit software solution; MeridianLink Consumer, a full loan solution suite to banks and credit unions; and MeridianLink DecisionLender, a loan origination software (LOS) for finance companies. It also provides MeridianLink Mortgage, a cloud-based software designed for financial professionals to optimize the end-to-end mortgage loan origination process; MeridianLink Collect, a web-based debt collection software; Mortgage Credit Link, a web-based order fulfillment hub; and MeridianLink Business, a cloud-based platform that offers business lending solutions for banks and credit unions. In addition, the company provides analytics and business intelligence tools through MeridianLink Engage, MeridianLink Consulting, MeridianLink Data Connect, and MeridianLink Insight; Data Verification Software Solution, a cloud-based order fulfillment hub for bankers and credit officers; and loan origination systems, other credit decisioning tools, and additional solution modules. MeridianLink, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California.

About MarketWise

(Get Free Report)

MarketWise, Inc. operates a content and technology multi-brand platform for self-directed investors in the United States and Internationally. Its platform includes subscription businesses that provides financial research, software, education, and tools to navigate the financial markets. The company offers various investment strategies, such as value investing, income, growth, commodities, cryptocurrencies, venture, crowdfunded investing, biotechnology, mutual funds, options, and trading; investment research product portfolio through a range of media, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile; and financial newsletters. It provides a suite of stock research tools and portfolio management services under the Chaikin Analytics brand; portfolio management software tools under the TradeSmith brand name; and database of accounting-based financial summaries under the Altimetry brand. In addition, the company develops screeners, monitors, portfolio management tools, and proprietary indicators that produce a composite score to rank publicly traded companies. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

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