Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) vs. Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Head to Head Contrast

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) and Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Nasdaq has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piper Sandler Companies has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nasdaq and Piper Sandler Companies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nasdaq	$8.22 billion	6.36	$1.79 billion	$3.43	27.27
Piper Sandler Companies	$1.90 billion	2.69	$281.33 million	$4.32	16.78

Nasdaq has higher revenue and earnings than Piper Sandler Companies. Piper Sandler Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nasdaq, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

72.5% of Nasdaq shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.8% of Piper Sandler Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Nasdaq shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Piper Sandler Companies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Nasdaq and Piper Sandler Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nasdaq	22.60%	18.38%	7.63%
Piper Sandler Companies	14.51%	21.92%	14.60%

Dividends

Nasdaq pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Piper Sandler Companies pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Nasdaq pays out 36.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Piper Sandler Companies pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Nasdaq has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Piper Sandler Companies has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Nasdaq is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Nasdaq and Piper Sandler Companies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nasdaq	0	2	8	1	2.91
Piper Sandler Companies	1	2	3	0	2.33

Nasdaq currently has a consensus target price of $110.30, indicating a potential upside of 17.90%. Piper Sandler Companies has a consensus target price of $95.06, indicating a potential upside of 31.17%. Given Piper Sandler Companies’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Piper Sandler Companies is more favorable than Nasdaq.

Summary

Nasdaq beats Piper Sandler Companies on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc. operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products. This segment also offers investor relations intelligence, governance solutions, and ESG solutions; and insights and workflow solutions, as well as operates listing platforms. The Financial Technology segment offers Verafin, a cloud-based platform to detect, investigate, and report money laundering and financial frauds; surveillance solutions, including a SaaS platform to assist in complying with market rules, regulations, and internal market surveillance policies; AxiomSL, a risk data management and regulatory reporting solution; and Calypso, a front-to-back trading technology solution for the financial market. This segment also handles assets, comprising cash equities, equity derivatives, currencies, various interest-bearing securities, commodities, energy products, and digital currencies; and trade management and colocation services. The Market Platforms segment offers equity derivative trading and clearing, cash equity trading, fixed income and commodities trading and clearing, and currency trading services. This segment operates various exchanges and other marketplace facilities across various asset classes which includes derivatives, commodities, cash equity, debt, structured products, and exchange traded products; and provides clearing, settlement, and central depository services. The company was formerly known as The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. and changed its name to Nasdaq, Inc. in September 2015. Nasdaq, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies operates as an investment bank and institutional securities firm that serves corporations, private equity groups, public entities, non-profit entities, and institutional investors in the United States and internationally. The company offers investment banking and institutional sales, trading, and research services for various equity and fixed income products. It provides advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, equity private placements, and debt and restructuring advisory; raises capital through equity and debt financings; underwrites municipal issuances; and offers municipal financial advisory and loan placement services, as well as various over-the-counter derivative products. The company also offers public finance investment banking services that focus on state and local governments, and cultural and social service non-profit entities, as well as the education, healthcare, hospitality, senior living, and transportation sectors. In addition, it provides equity and fixed income advisory and trade execution services for institutional investors, and government and non-profit entities. Further, the company is involved in the alternative asset management funds merchant banking and healthcare to invest firm capital and to manage capital from outside investors, as well as trading activities. The company was formerly known as Piper Jaffray Companies and changed its name to Piper Sandler Companies in January 2020. Piper Sandler Companies was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.