Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD – Get Free Report) and TaoWeave (NASDAQ:TWAV – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.
Risk and Volatility
Walker & Dunlop has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TaoWeave has a beta of 2.52, indicating that its stock price is 152% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
81.0% of Walker & Dunlop shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of TaoWeave shares are held by institutional investors. 4.0% of Walker & Dunlop shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of TaoWeave shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Walker & Dunlop | $1.23 billion | 1.20 | $57.08 million | $1.12 | 38.67 |
| TaoWeave | $2.52 million | 1.88 | -$6.36 million | ($1.14) | -1.20 |
Walker & Dunlop has higher revenue and earnings than TaoWeave. TaoWeave is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Walker & Dunlop, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Walker & Dunlop and TaoWeave’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Walker & Dunlop | 2.94% | 7.25% | 2.31% |
| TaoWeave | -272.06% | -99.07% | -87.12% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Walker & Dunlop and TaoWeave, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Walker & Dunlop | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2.71 |
| TaoWeave | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Walker & Dunlop presently has a consensus target price of $77.20, suggesting a potential upside of 78.25%. Given Walker & Dunlop’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Walker & Dunlop is more favorable than TaoWeave.
Summary
Walker & Dunlop beats TaoWeave on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Walker & Dunlop
Walker & Dunlop, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial real estate and finance services. It operates through the following segments: Capital Markets, Servicing and Asset Management, and Corporate. The Capital Markets segment offers a comprehensive range of commercial real estate finance products to customers. The Servicing and Asset Management segment includes servicing and asset-managing and managing third-party capital investments. The Corporate segment consists primarily of the company’s treasury operations and other corporate-level activities. The company was founded by Oliver Walker and Laird Dunlop in 1937 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.
About TaoWeave
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 provides 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 offers network services comprising 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. Further, it provides professional services, such as software development, visual and interaction design, engineering, and project support services; and resells video equipment to its customers. Oblong Inc. is based in Conifer, Colorado.
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