CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) and Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
99.7% of CoStar Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.0% of Shutterstock shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of CoStar Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 47.3% of Shutterstock shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares CoStar Group and Shutterstock’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| CoStar Group | 10.85% | 7.19% | 5.49% |
| Shutterstock | 5.59% | 11.08% | 6.34% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares CoStar Group and Shutterstock’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| CoStar Group | $894.73 million | 10.23 | $220.39 million | $2.99 | 93.30 |
| Shutterstock | $517.47 million | 2.23 | $57.99 million | $0.81 | 41.07 |
CoStar Group has higher revenue and earnings than Shutterstock. Shutterstock is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CoStar Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
CoStar Group has a beta of 1.51, indicating that its stock price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shutterstock has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for CoStar Group and Shutterstock, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| CoStar Group | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Shutterstock | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
CoStar Group currently has a consensus price target of $313.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.20%. Shutterstock has a consensus price target of $42.40, suggesting a potential upside of 27.44%. Given Shutterstock’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Shutterstock is more favorable than CoStar Group.
Summary
CoStar Group beats Shutterstock on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
CoStar Group Company Profile
CoStar Group, Inc. (CoStar) is a provider of information, analytics and online marketplaces to the commercial real estate and related business community through its database of commercial real estate information covering the United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of Canada, Spain, Germany and France. The Company provides online marketplaces for commercial real estate, apartment rentals, lands for sale and businesses for sale. It manages its business geographically in two segments: North America, which includes the United States and Canada, and International, which includes the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and France. Its suite of information, analytics and online marketplaces is branded and marketed to its customers. Its services are primarily derived from a database of building-specific information and offer customers specialized tools for accessing, analyzing and using its information. It has five brands: CoStar, LoopNet, Apartments.com, BizBuySell and LandsofAmerica.
Shutterstock Company Profile
Shutterstock, Inc. (Shutterstock) is a global technology company that operates a two-sided marketplace for professionals to license content. The Company’s library of content includes digital imagery, which consists of licensed photographs, vectors, illustrations and video clips that customers use in their visual communications, such as Websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications and video content, and commercial music, which consists of music tracks and sound effects and which is often used to complement digital imagery. It also offers digital asset management services through its cloud-based digital asset management platform (webdam). Its global marketplace brings together users and contributors of content by providing a collection of content its customers can pay to license and incorporate into their work and by compensating contributors as their content is licensed to customers.
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