Reviewing Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) & HMS Networks AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:HMNKF)

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) and HMS Networks AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:HMNKF) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Dividends

Juniper Networks pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. HMS Networks AB (publ) pays an annual dividend of $2.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Juniper Networks pays out 127.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. HMS Networks AB (publ) pays out 40.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HMS Networks AB (publ) is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Juniper Networks and HMS Networks AB (publ)”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Juniper Networks	$5.10 billion	2.50	$310.20 million	$0.69	56.77
HMS Networks AB (publ)	N/A	N/A	N/A	$5.61	7.28

Juniper Networks has higher revenue and earnings than HMS Networks AB (publ). HMS Networks AB (publ) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Juniper Networks, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Juniper Networks and HMS Networks AB (publ), as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Juniper Networks	0	8	1	0	2.11
HMS Networks AB (publ)	0	0	0	0	N/A

Juniper Networks currently has a consensus price target of $37.63, indicating a potential downside of 3.94%. Given Juniper Networks’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Juniper Networks is more favorable than HMS Networks AB (publ).

Profitability

This table compares Juniper Networks and HMS Networks AB (publ)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Juniper Networks	4.58%	8.02%	3.78%
HMS Networks AB (publ)	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.9% of Juniper Networks shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Juniper Networks shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Juniper Networks beats HMS Networks AB (publ) on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks, Inc. designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers. It also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation, and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine, and top-of-rack data center switches; and juniper access points, which provide Wi-Fi access and performance. In addition, the company offers security products comprising SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP. Further, it offers Junos OS, a network operating system; Contrail networking, which provides an open-source and standards-based platform for SDN; Mist AI-driven Wired, Wireless, and WAN assurance solutions to set and measure key metrics; Mist AI-driven Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, which identifies the root cause of issues; Juniper Paragon Automation, a modular portfolio of cloud-native software applications; and Juniper Apstra to automate the network lifecycle in a single system. Additionally, the company provides software-as-a-service, technical support, maintenance, and professional services, as well as education and training programs. It sells its products through direct sales, distributors, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers to end-users in the cloud, service provider, and enterprise markets. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

About HMS Networks AB (publ)

HMS Networks AB (publ) engages in the provision of products that enable industrial equipment to communicate and share information worldwide. The company offers Anybus Embedded that offers multi-network connectivity with a single development project; Anybus Gateways, a gateway for connecting devices, machines, systems, or networks; Anybus Wireless that allows to connect machines and devices over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular networks, and industrial Ethernet; and Anybus Diagnostics, which offers tools and services to monitor, analyze, and troubleshoot industrial networks. It also provides Ewon Cosy, an industrial VPN device for secure remote access; Ewon Flexy, an industrial device and IIoT gateways for flexible remote access and data services; Ewon Flexy Extension Cards, which allow to keep up with the evolution of communication technologies while protecting investment in the device; and Ewon Talk2M, an industrial cloud that enables its customers to access their assets; Ewon Netbiter, a gateway to remote connectivity for energy generation systems; and Argos, a IIoT cloud dashboard, as well as offers other IIoT softwares. In addition, the company offers Intesis protocol translators, air conditioner interfaces, AC Cloud control, and ST cloud control solutions; and PC interfaces, repeaters, bridges, routers, gateways, and safety solutions under the Ixxat brand. Further, it provides Owasys, a wireless communication platforms, as well as offers brand labeling, system, software, and maintenance solutions. The company offers its solutions to device manufactures, machine builders, system integrators, and end users. HMS Networks AB (publ) was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Halmstad, Sweden.