Critical Contrast: Red Violet (NASDAQ:RDVT) & Asure Software (NASDAQ:ASUR)

Asure Software (NASDAQ:ASUR) and Red Violet (NASDAQ:RDVT) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Asure Software and Red Violet”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Asure Software	$140.54 million	1.67	-$13.13 million	($0.29)	-27.97
Red Violet	$90.25 million	13.51	$13.15 million	$1.12	67.80

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Asure Software and Red Violet, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Asure Software	1	1	2	1	2.60
Red Violet	0	2	4	0	2.67

Asure Software currently has a consensus price target of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 60.30%. Red Violet has a consensus price target of $83.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.96%. Given Asure Software’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Asure Software is more favorable than Red Violet.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.6% of Asure Software shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.6% of Red Violet shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.9% of Asure Software shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Red Violet shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Asure Software and Red Violet’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Asure Software	-5.42%	8.19%	3.27%
Red Violet	16.54%	16.12%	14.77%

Volatility & Risk

Asure Software has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Red Violet has a beta of 1.81, suggesting that its share price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Red Violet beats Asure Software on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Asure Software

Asure Software, Inc. engages in the provision of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions in the United States. It provides its human resources (HR) tool as Software-as-a-Service that helps various small and medium-sized businesses to build productive workforce to help them stay compliant and allocate resources to grow their business. The company's solutions include Asure Payroll & Tax, an integrated solution that simplifies payroll and automates regulations associated with payroll and taxes, including wages, benefits, overtime, garnishments, tips, direct deposits, and fair labor standard act, as well as federal, state, and local payroll taxes; and Tax Management Solutions, that provides payroll tax processing software and service solutions, as well as bulk filing and processing support of employee retention tax credits, for the payroll service industry, mid-market, and corporate employers. It also provides HR compliance and services, including HR support, which provides an on-demand HR resource library, phone, and email support for various HR issues and compliance, and policy updates; Strategic HR, which provides in-depth support for strategic HR decision making; and Total HR, which provides a complete HR outsourcing solution, for handling HR complexities, such as employee self-service, applicant tracking, onboarding, and compliance. In addition, the company offers Time and Attendance, which provides cost savings and return on investment gains come in the form of strategic use of labor dollars and the elimination of time theft; and AsureMarketplace that automates interactions between its HCM systems with third-party providers. Asure Software, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Red Violet

Red Violet, Inc., a software and services company, specializes in proprietary technologies and applying analytical capabilities to deliver identity intelligence in the United States. It offers idiCORE, an investigative solution used to address various organizational challenges, which include due diligence, risk mitigation, identity authentication, fraud detection and prevention, customer acquisition, and regulatory compliance; and FOREWARN, an app-based solution that provides instant knowledge before face-to-face engagement with a consumer, as well as helps professionals to identify and mitigate risk. The company serves financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, telecommunication companies, law enforcement and government agencies, collections, law, corporate security, and investigative firms. It markets its products and services through value-added distributors, resellers, and strategic partners; and trade shows and seminars, advertising, public relations, distribution of sales literature, and product specifications and ongoing communication with prospective customers, distributors, resellers, strategic partners, and installed base of current customers, as well as through direct sales. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.