Analyzing Aware (NASDAQ:AWRE) and Paycor HCM (NASDAQ:PYCR)

Aware (NASDAQ:AWRE) and Paycor HCM (NASDAQ:PYCR) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Aware and Paycor HCM’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aware	-36.65%	-12.91%	-9.73%
Paycor HCM	-13.82%	1.28%	0.62%

Risk & Volatility

Aware has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paycor HCM has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.4% of Aware shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.8% of Paycor HCM shares are held by institutional investors. 32.6% of Aware shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Paycor HCM shares are held 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Aware and Paycor HCM’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aware	$18.24 million	2.11	-$7.31 million	($0.33)	-5.55
Paycor HCM	$552.69 million	5.57	-$93.21 million	($0.48)	-36.04

Aware has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Paycor HCM. Paycor HCM is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aware, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Aware and Paycor HCM, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aware	0	0	0	0	N/A
Paycor HCM	0	8	4	0	2.33

Paycor HCM has a consensus price target of $27.35, suggesting a potential upside of 58.11%. Given Paycor HCM’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Paycor HCM is more favorable than Aware.

Summary

Paycor HCM beats Aware on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aware

Aware, Inc., an authentication company, provides biometrics software products and solutions for government agencies and commercial entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers biometric software solution, including Knomi, a mobile biometric framework which provides multiple biometric modality options; AwareABIS, an automated biometric identification system used for large-scale biometric identification and deduplication; AFIX suite used for small-scale law enforcement focused biometric identification; and AFIX Tracker for fingerprint, palmprint, and latent print identification, as well as AFIX Face, AFIX Verifier, AFIX Identifier, AFIX Comparator, AFIX Engine, and AFIX NIST Transaction Engine. It also provides BioSP, a biometric integration platform-as-a-service that enables biometric data processing and management functionality in a web services architecture; WebEnroll, a browser-based biometric enrollment and data management solution; and AwareID, a software-as-a-service that provides identity verification and continuous authentication capabilities. In addition, the company offers biometrics applications, such as Nexa line, a biometric search and match SDKs including Nexa Fingerprint, Nexa Face, Nexa Iris, and Nexa Voice; and AwareXM, an interoperable fingerprint matching SDK that provides fingerprint minutiae extraction, template generation, and fingerprint authentication. Further, it sells imaging products used in medical and advanced imaging application; and offers software maintenance, program management, and software engineering services. The company sells its products, services, and solutions through systems integrators, direct, and original equipment manufacturers and value added resellers channel. Aware, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

About Paycor HCM

Paycor HCM, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides software-as-a-service (SaaS) human capital management (HCM) solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) primarily in the United States. It offers cloud-native platform to address the comprehensive people management needs of SMB leaders. The company's SaaS based people management products include Cor HCM, a complete suite of HCM tools spanning HR, onboarding, payroll, compensation management, employee surveys, expenses, and reporting and analytics; Workforce Management, a solution with flexible time entry, overtime calculations, and scheduling capabilities with real-time payroll synchronization; Benefits Administration, a decision support solution to help leaders to streamline and optimize company's benefits administration; and Talent Management, an integrated compensation and performance management solution. It serves manufacturing, healthcare, restaurant, retail, professional services, nonprofit, and education industries through its direct sales teams. Paycor HCM, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.