Reviewing Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) and Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU)

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.7% of Intuit shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.1% of Simulations Plus shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Intuit shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.4% of Simulations Plus shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Intuit and Simulations Plus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intuit	21.19%	23.52%	13.10%
Simulations Plus	-81.74%	13.27%	12.44%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Intuit and Simulations Plus, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intuit	1	4	23	1	2.83
Simulations Plus	1	6	3	1	2.36

Intuit currently has a consensus price target of $796.60, indicating a potential upside of 18.64%. Simulations Plus has a consensus price target of $24.40, indicating a potential upside of 30.13%. Given Simulations Plus’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Simulations Plus is more favorable than Intuit.

Volatility & Risk

Intuit has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simulations Plus has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Intuit and Simulations Plus”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intuit	$18.83 billion	9.92	$3.87 billion	$14.63	45.90
Simulations Plus	$79.18 million	4.77	-$64.72 million	($3.22)	-5.82

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

Summary

Intuit beats Simulations Plus on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Intuit

Intuit Inc. provides financial management and compliance products and services for consumers, small businesses, self-employed, and accounting professionals in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Small Business & Self-Employed, Consumer, Credit Karma, and ProTax. The Small Business & Self-Employed segment provides QuickBooks services, that includes financial and business management online services and desktop software, payroll solutions, time tracking, merchant payment processing solutions, and financing for small businesses; and Mailchimp services, such as e-commerce, marketing automation, and customer relationship management. This segment also offers QuickBooks online services and desktop software solutions comprising QuickBooks Online Advanced, a cloud-based solution; QuickBooks Enterprise, a hosted solution; and QuickBooks Self-Employed solution; payment-processing solutions, including credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and ACH payment services; and financial supplies and financing for small businesses, as well as electronic filing of federal and state income tax returns. The Consumer segment provides TurboTax income tax preparation products and services. The Credit Karma segment offers consumers with a personal finance platform that provides personalized recommendations of home, auto, and personal loans, as well as credit cards and insurance products. The ProTax segment provides Lacerte, ProSeries, and ProFile desktop tax-preparation software products; and ProConnect Tax Online tax products, electronic tax filing service, and bank products and related services. It sells products and services through various sales and distribution channels, including multi-channel shop-and-buy experiences, websites and call centers, mobile application stores, and retail and other channels. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

About Simulations Plus

Simulations Plus, Inc. develops drug discovery and development software for modeling and simulation, and prediction of molecular properties utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning based technology worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Software and Services. It offers GastroPlus, which simulates the absorption and drug interaction of compounds administered to humans and animals; and DDDPlus and MembranePlus simulation products. The company also provides products based on mechanistic and mathematical models, such as DILIsym, NAFLDsym, ILDsym, RENAsym, IPFsym, and MITOsym products. In addition, it offers Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicity Predictor for chemistry-based computer program that takes molecular structures as inputs and predicts their properties; and MedChem Designer, as well as MonolixSuite products for modeling and simulation that allows for population analyses, rapid clinical trial data analyses, and regulatory submissions. Further, the company provides clinical-pharmacology-based consulting services, which includes population pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling, exposure-response analyses, clinical trial simulations, data programming, and technical writing services in support of regulatory submissions; and early drug discovery services. Additionally, it offers creative and insightful consulting services to support its quantitative systems pharmacology/quantitative systems toxicology modelling. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrochemical, cosmetics, and food industry companies, as well as academic and regulatory agencies. Simulations Plus, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Lancaster, California.