Critical Survey: OMNIQ (NASDAQ:OMQS) and Digimarc (NASDAQ:DMRC)

OMNIQ (NASDAQ:OMQS) and Digimarc (NASDAQ:DMRC) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares OMNIQ and Digimarc”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OMNIQ	$81.19 million	0.02	-$29.43 million	($3.03)	-0.06
Digimarc	$38.60 million	17.79	-$45.96 million	($2.08)	-15.44

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

Profitability

This table compares OMNIQ and Digimarc’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OMNIQ	-38.71%	N/A	-62.54%
Digimarc	-105.98%	-41.60%	-33.54%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for OMNIQ and Digimarc, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OMNIQ	0	0	0	0	N/A
Digimarc	0	1	1	0	2.50

Digimarc has a consensus price target of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.85%. Given Digimarc’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Digimarc is more favorable than OMNIQ.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

5.7% of OMNIQ shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.8% of Digimarc shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.6% of OMNIQ shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.3% of Digimarc shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

OMNIQ has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Digimarc has a beta of 1.7, meaning that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Digimarc beats OMNIQ on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OMNIQ

OMNIQ Corp. provides artificial intelligence-based solutions in the United States. The company provides artificial intelligence technology to deliver data collection, real-time surveillance, and monitoring for supply chain management, homeland security, public safety, traffic and parking management, and access control applications. It offers solutions which includes hardware, software, communications, and automated management services; technical service and support; distributes barcode labels, tags, and ribbons, as well as RFID labels and tags; and provides printing solutions, credit card terminals, automatic kiosks, and point-of-care units, as well as packaged and configurable software, and mobile and wireless equipment. In addition, the company offers suite of configurable packaged software solutions comprises order entry, an access to real-time information and up-to-date data to facilitates and streamline job function; intelligent order entry, a link in getting remote orders from the field to corporate; warehouse, a collection of applications for portable devices that extend the existing system out to the warehouse floor and dock doors; proof of delivery which offers proof-of-delivery capabilities; Quest Total solutions as a service, mobile-services offering that includes hardware, software, and wireless data in a bundled subscription; and media and label business that provides data collection from ongoing and repeatable purchasing business. It sells its products to government agencies and Fortune 500 companies in various sectors, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, retail, distribution, and transportation and logistics sectors. The company was formerly known as Quest Solution, Inc. OMNIQ Corp. was incorporated in 1973 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides automatic identification solutions to commercial and government customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers Digimarc Validate protects, a cloud-based record of product authentication information; Digimarc Engage, an interactive communications channel connecting brands and consumers; and Digimarc Recycle. Its solutions are used in various application solutions, such as sorting of consumer-packaged goods in recycling streams. The company offers its solutions through its sales personnel and business partners. Digimarc Corporation was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Beaverton, Oregon.