Financial Comparison: Acacia Research (ACTG) vs. Its Competitors

Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG) is one of 334 public companies in the “Financial Services” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Acacia Research to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Acacia Research has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acacia Research’s competitors have a beta of 2.55, meaning that their average share price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Acacia Research and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acacia Research	1	0	1	0	2.00
Acacia Research Competitors	1930	6943	11706	447	2.51

Acacia Research presently has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 44.23%. As a group, “Financial Services” companies have a potential downside of 4.95%. Given Acacia Research’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Acacia Research is more favorable than its competitors.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.7% of Acacia Research shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.5% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Acacia Research shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.9% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Acacia Research and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acacia Research	$285.23 million	$21.68 million	-23.11
Acacia Research Competitors	$6.95 billion	$1.14 billion	8.18

Acacia Research’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Acacia Research. Acacia Research is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Acacia Research and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acacia Research	-6.52%	1.68%	1.24%
Acacia Research Competitors	-259.04%	-39.95%	-4.73%

Summary

Acacia Research competitors beat Acacia Research on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

About Acacia Research

Acacia Research Corporation is a holding company that acquires and operates businesses and assets, with a focus on industrial, energy and technology sectors. Its portfolio companies provide products and services in their respective markets, while Acacia supports their ownership and development. The company was historically known for acquiring and licensing intellectual property through subsidiaries, including patents covering a range of technologies. It has since broadened its activities to include acquiring operating businesses and other assets.