Contrasting Nomura Research Institute (OTCMKTS:NRILY) and EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM)

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) and Nomura Research Institute (OTCMKTS:NRILY) are both technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Volatility and Risk

EPAM Systems has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nomura Research Institute has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares EPAM Systems and Nomura Research Institute’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
EPAM Systems	6.96%	14.71%	11.14%
Nomura Research Institute	2.41%	4.11%	2.02%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares EPAM Systems and Nomura Research Institute”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
EPAM Systems	$5.46 billion	0.94	$377.68 million	$6.97	14.07
Nomura Research Institute	$5.41 billion	3.20	$100.70 million	$0.23	134.02

EPAM Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Nomura Research Institute. EPAM Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nomura Research Institute, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.6% of EPAM Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of EPAM Systems shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 61.1% of Nomura Research Institute shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for EPAM Systems and Nomura Research Institute, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
EPAM Systems	1	9	7	0	2.35
Nomura Research Institute	1	1	0	1	2.33

EPAM Systems presently has a consensus target price of $130.07, suggesting a potential upside of 32.62%. Given EPAM Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe EPAM Systems is more favorable than Nomura Research Institute.

Summary

EPAM Systems beats Nomura Research Institute on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About EPAM Systems

EPAM Systems, Inc. provides digital platform engineering and software development services worldwide. The company offers engineering services, including requirements analysis and platform selection, customization, cross-platform migration, implementation, and integration; infrastructure management services, such as software development, testing, performance tuning, deployment, maintenance, and support services. It also provides operation solutions comprising integrated engineering practices and smart automation services. In addition, the company offers business, experience, technology, data, and technical advisory consulting services; and digital and service design solutions, which comprise strategy, design, creative, and program management services, as well as physical product development, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and virtual reality. The company serves the financial services, travel and consumer, software and hi-tech, business information and media, life sciences and healthcare, and other industries EPAM Systems, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

About Nomura Research Institute

Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. provides consulting, financial information technology (IT) solution, industrial IT solution, and IT platform services in Japan and internationally. Its Consulting segment offers management, operational, and system consulting services for enterprises and government agencies. This segment also offers research, future projections, and recommendations to society, economics, business, technology, etc. The company's Financial IT Solutions segment provides system consulting, development, and management solutions, as well as shared online and BPO services for the financial institutions, including the securities, insurance, banking, asset management, and other financial sectors. Its Industrial IT Solutions segment offers system consulting, development, and management solutions, as well as shared online services primarily for the distribution, manufacturing, service, and public sectors. The company's IT Platform Services segment engages in the data center operation activities and construction of IT platforms and networks to the Financial IT and Industrial IT Solutions segments, as well as provides IT platform solutions and information security services to external clients. This segment is also involved in the research related to advance IT, etc. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.