Reviewing PC Connection (NASDAQ:CNXN) and Identiv (NASDAQ:INVE)

Identiv (NASDAQ:INVE) and PC Connection (NASDAQ:CNXN) are both technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Identiv and PC Connection”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Identiv	$21.48 million	2.76	-$18.00 million	($0.66)	-3.71
PC Connection	$2.87 billion	0.78	$83.72 million	$3.78	23.63

PC Connection has higher revenue and earnings than Identiv. Identiv is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PC Connection, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Identiv has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PC Connection has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Identiv and PC Connection, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Identiv	1	2	0	0	1.67
PC Connection	0	0	1	1	3.50

Identiv currently has a consensus target price of $3.40, suggesting a potential upside of 38.78%. Given Identiv’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Identiv is more favorable than PC Connection.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

65.2% of Identiv shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.8% of PC Connection shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Identiv shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 56.6% of PC Connection shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Identiv and PC Connection’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Identiv	-62.93%	-11.02%	-10.34%
PC Connection	3.21%	10.90%	7.29%

Summary

PC Connection beats Identiv on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Identiv

Identiv, Inc., a security technology company, that provides secure identification and physical security solutions that secure things, data, and physical places worldwide. It operates in two segments, Identity and Premises. The Identity segment offers products and solutions that enables secure access to information serving the logical access and cyber security markets, as well as protecting connected objects and information using radio-frequency identification embedded security. The Premises segment provides solutions for premises security market, such as access control, video surveillance, analytics, audio, access readers, and identities to government facilities, schools, utilities, hospitals, stores, and apartment buildings. The company sells its products through dealers, systems integrators, value added resellers, and resellers. The company was formerly known as Identive Group, Inc. and changed its name to Identiv, Inc. in May 2014. Identiv, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.

About PC Connection

PC Connection, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of information technology (IT) solutions. The company operates through three segments: Business Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Public Sector Solutions. It offers IT products, such as computer systems, software and peripheral equipment, networking communications, and other products and accessories. The company also provides services comprising design, configuration, and implementation of IT solutions. In addition, publishes Connected, a quarterly publication that provides informative articles on the latest technologies and industry trends; distributes specialty catalogs to education, healthcare, and government customers; and MacConnection that publishes a catalog for the Apple market. The company markets its products and services through its Websites, such as connection.com, connection.com/enterprise, connection.com/publicsector, and macconnection.com. It serves small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) comprising small office/home offices customers; government and educational institutions; and medium-to-large corporate accounts through outbound telemarketing and field sales and marketing programs targeted to specific customer populations, as well as through digital, Web, and print media advertising. PC Connection, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Merrimack, New Hampshire.