VeriSign (VRSN) Competitors

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) and EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, risk, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Do analysts recommend VRSN or EPAM?

VeriSign presently has a consensus price target of $218.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.23%. EPAM Systems has a consensus price target of $323.93, suggesting a potential upside of 36.25%. Given EPAM Systems' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe EPAM Systems is more favorable than VeriSign.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VeriSign	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
EPAM Systems	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Do insiders & institutionals believe in VRSN or EPAM?

92.9% of VeriSign shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of EPAM Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of VeriSign shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of EPAM Systems shares are owned 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.

Is VRSN or EPAM more profitable?

VeriSign has a net margin of 55.04% compared to EPAM Systems' net margin of 8.89%. EPAM Systems' return on equity of 15.53% beat VeriSign's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VeriSign	55.04%	-47.39%	44.71%
EPAM Systems	8.89%	15.53%	12.26%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer VRSN or EPAM?

EPAM Systems received 250 more outperform votes than VeriSign when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 73.84% of users gave EPAM Systems an outperform vote while only 62.30% of users gave VeriSign an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
VeriSign	Outperform Votes 385 62.30%	Underperform Votes 233 37.70%
EPAM Systems	Outperform Votes 635 73.84%	Underperform Votes 225 26.16%

Does the media refer more to VRSN or EPAM?

In the previous week, VeriSign had 16 more articles in the media than EPAM Systems. MarketBeat recorded 34 mentions for VeriSign and 18 mentions for EPAM Systems. VeriSign's average media sentiment score of 0.56 beat EPAM Systems' score of 0.49 indicating that VeriSign is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
VeriSign	11 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
EPAM Systems	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, VRSN or EPAM?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VeriSign	$1.49B	11.77	$817.60M	$8.14	21.56
EPAM Systems	$4.69B	2.94	$417.08M	$7.07	33.63

Which has more volatility & risk, VRSN or EPAM?

VeriSign has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EPAM Systems has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

EPAM Systems beats VeriSign on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.