Comparing ZoomInfo Technologies (NASDAQ:ZI) & Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD)

ZoomInfo Technologies (NASDAQ:ZI) and Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.

Risk and Volatility

ZoomInfo Technologies has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ziff Davis has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ZoomInfo Technologies and Ziff Davis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ZoomInfo Technologies	0.74%	12.05%	3.46%
Ziff Davis	48.57%	10.73%	5.54%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.5% of ZoomInfo Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of Ziff Davis shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of ZoomInfo Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Ziff Davis shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for ZoomInfo Technologies and Ziff Davis, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ZoomInfo Technologies	2	2	1	0	1.80
Ziff Davis	0	6	3	0	2.33

ZoomInfo Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $5.50, suggesting a potential upside of 34.47%. Ziff Davis has a consensus price target of $59.75, suggesting a potential upside of 1.05%. Given ZoomInfo Technologies’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe ZoomInfo Technologies is more favorable than Ziff Davis.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ZoomInfo Technologies and Ziff Davis”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ZoomInfo Technologies	$1.21 billion	1.15	$107.30 million	$0.12	34.08
Ziff Davis	$1.45 billion	1.40	$47.35 million	$17.67	3.35

ZoomInfo Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ziff Davis. Ziff Davis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ZoomInfo Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Ziff Davis beats ZoomInfo Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ZoomInfo Technologies

ZoomInfo Technologies Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides go-to-market intelligence and engagement platform for sales and marketing teams in the United States and internationally. The company's cloud-based platform provides information on organizations and professionals to help users identify target customers and decision makers, obtain continually updated predictive lead and company scoring, monitor buying signals and other attributes of target companies, craft messages, engage through automated sales tools, and track progress through the deal cycle. It serves enterprises, mid-market companies, and down to small businesses that operate in various industry, including software, business services, manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, media and internet, transportation, education, hospitality, and real estate. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington.

About Ziff Davis

Ziff Davis, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media and internet company in the United States and internationally. The company offers PCMag, an online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news, buying guides, and research papers; Mashable for publishing technology and culture content; Spiceworks Ziff Davis provides digital content of IT products and services; retailMeNot, a savings destination platform; Offers.com, a coupon and deals website; and event-based properties, including BlackFriday.com, TheBlackFriday.com, BestBlackFriday.com, and DealsofAmerica.com. It also offers gaming and entertainment content under the IGN Entertainment and Humble Bundle brands; and information on internet connectivity under the Ookla, Ekahau, Downdetector, and RootMetrics brands. The company also offers digital content and information services for health and wellness consumers under the Everyday Health, DailyOM, Lose It!, Diabetes Daily, Castle Connolly, and Migraine Again brands; pregnancy and parenting content under the BabyCenter, Emma's Diary, and What to Expect brands; and Medpage Today that delivers medical news. In addition, the company offers PRIME Education, a medical education program for healthcare professionals; and Health eCareers, a digital portal for healthcare professionals. Further, it provides endpoint and email security, security awareness training, secure backup and file sharing, and virtual private network solutions under the IPVanish, VIPRE, Livedrive, Inspired eLearning, and SugarSync brands; and email marketing and delivery solutions, search engine optimization tools, and voice and text communication services under the Campaigner, iContact, SMTP, Kickbox, MOZ Pro, MOZ Local, Stat Analytics, eVoice, and Line2 brands. The company was formerly known as j2 Global, Inc. and changed its name to Ziff Davis, Inc. in October 2021. Ziff Davis, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.