Contrasting Trivago N.V. ADS (NASDAQ:TRVG) & Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT)

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) and Trivago N.V. ADS (NASDAQ:TRVG) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Sprout Social and Trivago N.V. ADS, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sprout Social	1	6	6	0	2.38
Trivago N.V. ADS	1	4	1	0	2.00

Sprout Social presently has a consensus price target of $24.64, suggesting a potential upside of 160.43%. Trivago N.V. ADS has a consensus price target of $3.85, suggesting a potential upside of 37.50%. Given Sprout Social’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Sprout Social is more favorable than Trivago N.V. ADS.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

4.5% of Trivago N.V. ADS shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.1% of Sprout Social shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Trivago N.V. ADS shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Sprout Social and Trivago N.V. ADS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sprout Social	-10.59%	-18.93%	-7.76%
Trivago N.V. ADS	0.46%	1.54%	0.94%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sprout Social and Trivago N.V. ADS”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sprout Social	$443.75 million	1.26	-$61.97 million	($0.81)	-11.68
Trivago N.V. ADS	$498.74 million	0.40	-$25.64 million	$0.07	40.00

Trivago N.V. ADS has higher revenue and earnings than Sprout Social. Sprout Social is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Trivago N.V. ADS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Sprout Social has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trivago N.V. ADS has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Trivago N.V. ADS beats Sprout Social on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sprout Social

Sprout Social, Inc. designs, develops, and operates a web-based social media management platform in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides cloud software for social messaging, data and workflows in a unified system of record, intelligence, and action. It offers integrated tools, such as social engagement/response; publishing; reporting and analytics; social listening and business intelligence; reputation management; social commerce; employee advocacy; and automation and workflows. In addition, the company provides smart inbox, social customer relationship management, social monitoring and alerts, customer service tools, and automation; and centralized content planning, creation, and publishing, automated scheduling, content performance reporting, suggested content, message approval workflows, publishing permissions and governance, and content and asset libraries. Further, it offers social media; content performance, customer service and team, custom report builder, and reporting API; and market research, brand health, competitive insights, consumer trends, and product feedback; and social commerce, reputation management, employee advocacy, mobile applications, and chat bot creation and management. Additionally, the company offers professional services consisting of consulting and training services. It serves social and community management; public relations; marketing; influencer marketing; customer service and care; commerce, sales and customer acquisition; recruiting and hiring, product development, and business strategy; and small-and-medium-sized businesses, mid-market companies, enterprises, marketing agencies, government, non-profit, and educational institutions. Sprout Social, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About Trivago N.V. ADS

trivago N.V., together with its subsidiaries, operates a hotel and accommodation search platform in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and internationally. It offers an online meta-search for hotels and accommodation through online travel agencies, hotel chains, and independent hotels. The company provides travel search for different types of accommodations, such as hotels, vacation rentals, and apartments; and enable advertiser access through website and apps. In addition, it offers access to its platform through various localized websites and apps in various languages. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. trivago N.V. operates as a subsidiary of Expedia Lodging Partner Services Sarl.