Analyzing Docusign (DOCU) and Its Rivals

Docusign (NASDAQ:DOCU) is one of 954 public companies in the “Software” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Docusign to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.6% of Docusign shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.9% of shares of all “Software” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Docusign shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.9% of shares of all “Software” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Docusign and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Docusign	9.82%	18.29%	8.42%
Docusign Competitors	-607.19%	26.73%	-8.88%

Volatility & Risk

Docusign has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Docusign’s competitors have a beta of 1.34, indicating that their average stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Docusign and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Docusign	$3.22 billion	$309.08 million	48.55
Docusign Competitors	$1.80 billion	$385.28 million	109.22

Docusign has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. Docusign is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Docusign and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Docusign	1	15	3	0	2.11
Docusign Competitors	5781	21584	44976	1500	2.57

Docusign currently has a consensus target price of $67.62, indicating a potential downside of 15.07%. As a group, “Software” companies have a potential upside of 28.22%. Given Docusign’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Docusign has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Docusign competitors beat Docusign on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

Docusign Company Profile

DocuSign, Inc. provides software for preparing, signing, managing and automating agreements. Its platform helps businesses and individuals complete agreements digitally, reducing reliance on paper-based processes. The company’s offerings include DocuSign eSignature, which enables users to sign and request signatures electronically, as well as tools for contract lifecycle management and agreement workflows. Its Intelligent Agreement Management products use artificial intelligence to help organizations analyze and manage agreement-related information and processes.