Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) versus Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) Head to Head Comparison

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) and Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) are both communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Zillow Group and Shutterstock, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zillow Group	1	13	11	0	2.40
Shutterstock	1	1	1	0	2.00

Zillow Group currently has a consensus price target of $53.14, indicating a potential upside of 60.70%. Shutterstock has a consensus price target of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.71%. Given Zillow Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Zillow Group is more favorable than Shutterstock.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

20.3% of Zillow Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Shutterstock shares are held by institutional investors. 29.9% of Zillow Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 32.3% of Shutterstock shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Zillow Group has a beta of 1.97, indicating that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shutterstock has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Zillow Group and Shutterstock’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zillow Group	1.96%	2.32%	1.97%
Shutterstock	-22.87%	13.61%	5.49%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Zillow Group and Shutterstock”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zillow Group	$2.58 billion	2.88	$23.00 million	$0.22	150.30
Shutterstock	$901.29 million	0.21	$45.50 million	($5.65)	-0.90

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

Summary

Zillow Group beats Shutterstock on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc. operates real estate brands in mobile applications and Websites in the United States. The company offers premier agent and rentals marketplaces, new construction marketplaces, advertising, display advertising, and business technology solutions, as well as dotloop and floor plans. It also provides mortgage originations and the sale of mortgages, and advertising to mortgage lenders and other mortgage professionals; and title and escrow services. In addition, the company's brand portfolio includes Zillow Premier Agent, Zillow Home Loans, Zillow Rentals, Trulia, StreetEasy, HotPads, and Out East; and a suite of marketing software and technology solutions for the real estate industry, including ShowingTime+, Spruce, and Follow Up Boss. Zillow Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock, Inc. provides platform to connect brands and businesses to high quality content in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers image services consisting of photographs, vectors, and illustrations, which is used in visual communications, such as websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications, and others; footage services, including video clips, filmed by industry experts and cinema grade video effects in HD and 4K formats that are integrated into websites, social media, marketing campaigns, and cinematic productions; and music services comprising music tracks and sound effects, which are used to complement images and footage. It also provides 3 dimensional models consisting of 3D models used in various industries, such as advertising, media and video production, gaming, retail, education, design, and architecture; and generative AI content comprising images generated from algorithms trained with ethically sourced content. The company offers its services under the Shutterstock, Pond5, TurboSquid, PicMonkey, PremiumBeat, Splash News, Bigstock, and Offset brand names. In addition, it operates a collection of graphics interchange format visuals and stickers that supplies casual conversational content. The company serves corporate professionals and organizations, media and broadcast companies, and small and medium-sized businesses, and individual creators through digital, live sales, and client management channels. Shutterstock, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York.