Head to Head Survey: Inseego (NASDAQ:INSG) versus i3 Verticals (NASDAQ:IIIV)

i3 Verticals (NASDAQ:IIIV) and Inseego (NASDAQ:INSG) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares i3 Verticals and Inseego”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
i3 Verticals	$213.16 million	2.61	$17.87 million	$0.70	28.49
Inseego	$166.19 million	1.00	$840,000.00	$0.62	16.53

i3 Verticals has higher revenue and earnings than Inseego. Inseego is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than i3 Verticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.2% of i3 Verticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.2% of Inseego shares are owned by institutional investors. 60.1% of i3 Verticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.7% of Inseego shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares i3 Verticals and Inseego’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
i3 Verticals	8.59%	4.19%	3.28%
Inseego	-1.26%	-13.38%	-1.58%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for i3 Verticals and Inseego, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
i3 Verticals	0	3	5	0	2.63
Inseego	1	2	1	1	2.40

i3 Verticals presently has a consensus target price of $29.83, indicating a potential upside of 49.62%. Inseego has a consensus target price of $18.50, indicating a potential upside of 80.49%. Given Inseego’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Inseego is more favorable than i3 Verticals.

Risk & Volatility

i3 Verticals has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Inseego has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

i3 Verticals beats Inseego on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About i3 Verticals

i3 Verticals, Inc. provides integrated payment and software solutions primarily to the public sector and healthcare markets in the United States. It operates in two segments, Software and Services, and Merchant Services. The company offers payment processing services that enables upper and lower court case management, collections, finance and accounting, motor vehicle and carrier registration, e-filing and taxation, license plate inventory, property tax management, utility billing, professional licensing, document workflow, and law enforcement software; assists public schools in completing payment processing functions, including accepting payments for online or at school lunches, and school activities. It also provides software platforms, such as electronic healthcare records and revenue cycle management solutions; insurance adjudication, patient engagement platforms, billing, scheduling, and integrated payments solutions; and workflow software and associated professional services to medical insurance payers. In addition, the company engages in software licenses and subscriptions, transaction-based fees, ongoing software maintenance and support, and other software-related solutions; and payment processing and gateway fees, as well as other related fixed transaction or service fees. Further, it sells equipment, and offers non-software related professional services. The company offers its solutions to clients through direct sales force; distribution partners comprising independent software vendors, independent sales organizations, and value-added resellers. i3 Verticals, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

About Inseego

Inseego Corp. engages in the design and development of cloud-managed wireless wide area network (WAN) and intelligent edge solutions for businesses, consumers, and governments worldwide. The company provides 5G and 4G mobile broadband solutions, such as mobile hotspots under the MiFi brand; and 4G VoLTE products and 4G USB modems. It also offers fixed wireless access solutions, including indoor, outdoor, and industrial routers and gateways. In addition, the company provides Inseego Connect solution for device management; and 5G SD EDGE solution for secure networking enabling corporate managed mobile remote workforce. Further, it offers SaaS solutions, including telematic and asset tracking solution that provides live maps and data to improve driver safety and performance; Inseego Subscribe, a wireless subscriber management solution for carrier’s management of their government and complex enterprise customer subscriptions. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in San Diego, California.