Critical Analysis: Fathom (NASDAQ:FTHM) & St. Joe (NYSE:JOE)

Fathom (NASDAQ:FTHM) and St. Joe (NYSE:JOE) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Fathom and St. Joe, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fathom	1	0	0	1	2.50
St. Joe	0	0	1	0	3.00

Fathom presently has a consensus target price of $2.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1,636.11%. Given Fathom’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Fathom is more favorable than St. Joe.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Fathom and St. Joe”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fathom	$420.48 million	0.01	-$20.31 million	($0.80)	-0.18
St. Joe	$513.20 million	7.93	$115.63 million	$2.12	33.94

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

Profitability

This table compares Fathom and St. Joe’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fathom	-6.27%	-75.89%	-33.25%
St. Joe	22.32%	15.66%	8.02%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

55.5% of Fathom shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of St. Joe shares are held by institutional investors. 16.4% of Fathom shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of St. Joe shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Fathom has a beta of 2.41, indicating that its share price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, St. Joe has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

St. Joe beats Fathom on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fathom

Fathom Holdings Inc. is a technology-driven real estate services company that operates primarily through its Fathom Realty brokerage. The company provides residential real estate brokerage services through a network of independent agents who assist clients with buying, selling and leasing properties. Fathom Realty supports its agents with a cloud-based platform that includes transaction management, marketing, lead generation, training and other business tools. The company has also expanded its offerings into related real estate services, including title and settlement services, insurance and technology solutions designed to support real estate professionals and consumers.

About St. Joe

The St. Joe Company is a real estate development and operating company focused primarily on Northwest Florida. Its activities include planning and developing residential communities, selling land and homesites, and owning and operating commercial properties. The company also operates hospitality businesses, including hotels, golf courses, marinas and other leisure-oriented amenities. Its commercial portfolio includes properties that generate income through leasing, serving businesses and residents in the region.