Analyzing Samsara (NYSE:IOT) and BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL)

Samsara (NYSE:IOT) and BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Samsara and BlackLine, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Samsara	1	4	14	1	2.75
BlackLine	2	7	5	0	2.21

Samsara currently has a consensus target price of $45.94, indicating a potential upside of 19.78%. BlackLine has a consensus target price of $43.25, indicating a potential upside of 42.79%. Given BlackLine’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BlackLine is more favorable than Samsara.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.0% of Samsara shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.1% of BlackLine shares are owned by institutional investors. 35.1% of Samsara shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of BlackLine shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Samsara has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BlackLine has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Samsara and BlackLine’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Samsara	3.32%	2.00%	1.12%
BlackLine	3.71%	18.86%	3.88%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Samsara and BlackLine”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Samsara	$1.62 billion	13.81	-$9.12 million	$0.10	383.54
BlackLine	$700.43 million	2.54	$24.17 million	$0.43	70.44

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

Summary

Samsara beats BlackLine on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Samsara

Samsara Inc. provides solutions that connects physical operations data to its connected operations cloud in the United States and internationally. The company's Connected Operations Cloud includes Data Platform, which ingests, aggregates, and enriches data from its IoT devices and has embedded capabilities for AI, workflows and analytics, alerts, API connections, and data security and privacy. Its applications include video-based safety that enables customers to build a safety program and protect their teams with AI-enabled video; vehicle telematics which provides visibility into real-time vehicle location and diagnostics with GPS tracking, routing and dispatch, fuel efficiency management, electric vehicle usage and charge planning, preventative maintenance, and insights to manage fuel and energy costs; and mobile apps and workflows that improves productivity for frontline workers and enables regulatory compliance for workers to see upcoming jobs, capture electronic documents, perform maintenance inspections, maintain compliance logs, and message with back-office administration. The company also provides equipment monitoring which offers visibility and management of unpowered and powered assets, ranging from generators and compressors to heavy construction equipment and trailers to improve operating efficiency, prevent unplanned downtime, and avoid critical safety and compliance issues; and site visibility that provides remote visibility into sites to improve onsite security, safety, and incident response times. It serves transportation, wholesale and retail trade, construction, field services, logistics, utilities and energy, healthcare and education, manufacturing, food and beverage, and other industries, as well as government. Samsara Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About BlackLine

BlackLine, Inc. operates a cloud-based software platform which is designed to transform accounting and finance operations for organizations of all types and sizes. Its scalable platform supports critical accounting processes such as the financial close, account reconciliations, intercompany accounting, and controls assurance. The company was founded by Therese Tucker in May 2001 and is headquartered in Woodland Hills, CA.