Head to Head Review: Oblong (NYSE:OBLG) versus FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS)

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) and Oblong (NYSE:OBLG) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares FactSet Research Systems and Oblong’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FactSet Research Systems	24.16%	33.92%	15.97%
Oblong	-158.75%	-89.12%	-69.64%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.2% of FactSet Research Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of Oblong shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of FactSet Research Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Oblong shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

FactSet Research Systems has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oblong has a beta of 3.36, indicating that its stock price is 236% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares FactSet Research Systems and Oblong”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FactSet Research Systems	$2.23 billion	7.36	$537.13 million	$13.95	30.95
Oblong	$2.38 million	1.60	-$4.38 million	N/A	N/A

FactSet Research Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Oblong.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for FactSet Research Systems and Oblong, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FactSet Research Systems	5	8	0	0	1.62
Oblong	0	0	0	0	0.00

FactSet Research Systems presently has a consensus price target of $449.38, indicating a potential upside of 4.08%. Given FactSet Research Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe FactSet Research Systems is more favorable than Oblong.

Summary

FactSet Research Systems beats Oblong on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FactSet Research Systems

FactSet Research Systems Inc., a financial data company, provides integrated financial information and analytical applications to the investment community in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company delivers insight and information through the workflow solutions of research, analytics and trading, content and technology solutions, and wealth. It serves portfolio managers, investment banks, asset managers, wealth advisors, corporate clients, and other financial services entities. FactSet Research Systems Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

About Oblong

Oblong, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides multi-stream collaboration technologies and managed services for video collaboration and network applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Collaboration Products and Managed Services. Its flagship product is Mezzanine that enables visual collaboration across multi-users, multi-screens, multi-devices, and multi-locations for video telepresence, laptop and application sharing, and whiteboard sharing and slides applications. The company also provides managed videoconferencing services; and remote service management, which offers an overlay to enterprise information technology and channel partner support organizations, as well as support and management services for customer video environments. In addition, it provides network solutions, including Cloud Connect: Video that allows its customers to outsource the management of their video traffic to them and provides the customer's office locations with a secure, dedicated video network connection to the Oblong Cloud for video communications; Cloud Connect: Converge, which offers customized multiprotocol label switching solutions; and Cloud Connect: Cross Connect that allows the customer to leverage existing carrier for the extension of a Layer 2 private line to its data center. The company serves a range of industries comprising aerospace, consulting, executive search, broadcast media, legal, insurance, technology, financial services, education, healthcare, real estate, retail, construction, hospitality, and others, as well as government sector. Oblong, Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.