EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) versus System1 (NYSE:SST) Head-To-Head Contrast

EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) and System1 (NYSE:SST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares EverQuote and System1″s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
EverQuote	$287.92 million	2.64	-$51.29 million	$0.34	63.21
System1	$401.97 million	0.14	-$227.22 million	($1.21)	-0.49

EverQuote has higher earnings, but lower revenue than System1. System1 is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than EverQuote, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for EverQuote and System1, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
EverQuote	0	0	5	1	3.17
System1	0	1	0	0	2.00

EverQuote presently has a consensus target price of $31.67, indicating a potential upside of 47.36%. System1 has a consensus target price of $2.00, indicating a potential upside of 236.70%. Given System1’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe System1 is more favorable than EverQuote.

Volatility and Risk

EverQuote has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, System1 has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares EverQuote and System1’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
EverQuote	3.31%	13.94%	9.24%
System1	-24.18%	-68.85%	-18.27%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.5% of EverQuote shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.5% of System1 shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.8% of EverQuote shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of System1 shares are owned 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.

Summary

EverQuote beats System1 on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About EverQuote

EverQuote, Inc. operates an online marketplace for insurance shopping in the United States. The company offers auto, home and renters, and life insurance. The company serves carriers and agents, as well as indirect distributors. The company was formerly known as AdHarmonics, Inc., and changed its name to EverQuote, Inc. in November 2014. EverQuote, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About System1

System1, Inc. provides omnichannel customer acquisition platform services through its proprietary responsive acquisition marketing platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Owned and Operated Advertising, and Partner Network. The company engages in the provision of acquiring traffic to its owned and operated websites, as well as revenue-sharing arrangements and related services. It also operates MapQuest, a web-based navigation service that delivers turn-by-turn direction services to users; Info.com, a metasearch engine that consumers can use to search for relevant information; HowStuffWorks, a commercial website focused on helping people solve problems in their daily lives by using various types of digital media to easily breakdown and explain complex concepts, topics, terminology and mechanisms; Startpage, a private search engine that allows users to browse and search the Internet in complete privacy; and CouponFollow for coupon destinations for online shoppers, as well as ActiveBeat and Infospace. In addition, the company provides antivirus software solutions, which offers customers a single packaged solution that provides protection and reporting to the end users. The company is based in Los Angeles, California.