Head-To-Head Comparison: Upland Software (NASDAQ:UPLD) and Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC)

Upland Software (NASDAQ:UPLD) and Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

77.8% of Upland Software shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.8% of Paycom Software shares are held by institutional investors. 11.3% of Upland Software shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.6% of Paycom Software shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Upland Software and Paycom Software’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Upland Software	-46.18%	19.98%	1.85%
Paycom Software	26.55%	33.36%	10.90%

Volatility and Risk

Upland Software has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paycom Software has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Upland Software and Paycom Software, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Upland Software	1	1	2	1	2.60
Paycom Software	0	12	1	0	2.08

Upland Software presently has a consensus target price of $3.75, indicating a potential upside of 73.61%. Paycom Software has a consensus target price of $190.80, indicating a potential downside of 8.72%. Given Upland Software’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Upland Software is more favorable than Paycom Software.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Upland Software and Paycom Software”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Upland Software	$286.37 million	0.21	-$179.87 million	($4.75)	-0.45
Paycom Software	$1.69 billion	7.09	$340.79 million	$8.30	25.18

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

Summary

Paycom Software beats Upland Software on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Upland Software

Upland Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based software applications under the Upland brand name in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. It offers software applications that enable organizations to plan, manage and execute projects, and work in the areas of marketing, sales, contact center, knowledge management, project management, information technology, business operations, human resources, and legal. The company also provides professional services, such as implementation, data extraction, integration and configuration, and training services, as well as customer support services. It serves corporations, government agencies, and small and medium-sized businesses in the financial, consulting, technology, manufacturing, media, telecommunication, insurance, non-profit healthcare, life sciences, retail, and hospitality sectors. The company was formerly known as Silverback Enterprise Group, Inc. and changed its name to Upland Software, Inc. in November 2013. Upland Software, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Paycom Software

Paycom Software, Inc. provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solution delivered as software-as-a-service for small to mid-sized companies in the United States. It offers functionality and data analytics that businesses need to manage the employment life cycle from recruitment to retirement. The company's HCM solution provides a suite of applications in the areas of talent acquisition, including applicant tracking, candidate tracker, background checks, on-boarding, e-verify, and tax credit services; and time and labor management, such as time and attendance, scheduling, time-off requests, labor allocation, labor management reports/push reporting, geofencing/geotracking, and Microfence, a proprietary Bluetooth. Its HCM solution also offers payroll applications comprising better employee transaction interface, payroll and tax management, payroll card, Everyday, Paycom pay, Client Action Center, expense management, mileage tracker/fixed and variable rates, garnishment administration, and GL concierge applications; and talent management applications that include employee self-service, compensation budgeting, performance management, position management, and Paycom learning, as well as my analytics. In addition, its HCM solution provides manager on-the-go that gives supervisors and managers the ability to perform a variety of tasks, such as approving time-off requests and expense reimbursements; direct data exchange; ask here, a tool for direct line of communication to ask work-related questions; document and checklist; government and compliance; benefits administration/benefits to carrier; benefit enrollment service; COBRA administration; personnel action and performance discussion forms; surveys; 401(k) reporting; report center; and affordable care act applications, as well as Clue, which securely collects, tracks, and manages the vaccination and testing data of the workforce. Paycom Software, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.