Skillsoft (NYSE:SKIL) versus Zeta Global (NYSE:ZETA) Critical Analysis

Zeta Global (NYSE:ZETA) and Skillsoft (NYSE:SKIL) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Zeta Global has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Skillsoft has a beta of 2.27, meaning that its share price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Zeta Global and Skillsoft, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zeta Global	1	3	10	1	2.73
Skillsoft	1	1	0	0	1.50

Zeta Global presently has a consensus target price of $28.33, suggesting a potential upside of 47.82%. Given Zeta Global’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Zeta Global is more favorable than Skillsoft.

Profitability

This table compares Zeta Global and Skillsoft’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zeta Global	-1.62%	2.91%	1.70%
Skillsoft	-30.00%	-221.25%	3.40%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.7% of Zeta Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.0% of Skillsoft shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.7% of Zeta Global shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.2% of Skillsoft shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Zeta Global and Skillsoft”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zeta Global	$1.30 billion	3.66	-$31.51 million	($0.11)	-174.25
Skillsoft	$512.67 million	0.11	-$139.82 million	($16.60)	-0.38

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

Summary

Zeta Global beats Skillsoft on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zeta Global

Zeta Global Holdings Corp. operates an omnichannel data-driven cloud platform that provides enterprises with consumer intelligence and marketing automation software in the United States and internationally. The company’s Zeta Marketing Platform analyzes billions of structured and unstructured data points to predict consumer intent by leveraging sophisticated machine learning algorithms and the industry’s opted-in data set for omnichannel marketing; and Consumer Data platform ingests, analyzes, and distills disparate data points to generate a single view of a consumer, encompassing identity, profile characteristics, behaviors, and purchase intent. It also offers various types of product suites, such as agile intelligence suite, which synthesizes Zeta’s data and data generated by its customers to uncover consumer insights that are translated into marketing programs; and CDP, which helps in consolidating multiple databases and internal and external data feeds and organize data based on needs and performance metrics. Zeta Global Holdings Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Skillsoft

Skillsoft Corp. provides content and platform and instructor-led training services in the United States and internationally. The company's Content & Platform segment engages in the sale, marketing, and delivery of its content learning solutions in areas, such as leadership and business, technology and developer, and compliance comprising individualized coaching, as well as technical skill areas. This segment also offers Percipio, an AI-driven online learning platform that delivers a learning experience through SaaS solutions. Its Instructor-Led Training segment provides training solutions, including information technology and business skills for corporations and their employees by guiding its customers throughout their lifelong technology learning journey by offering relevant and up-to-date skills training through instructor-led and self-paced, vendor certified, and other proprietary offerings. The company markets and sells their offerings to businesses of many sizes, government agencies, educational institutions, and resellers. Skillsoft Corp. is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.