Critical Survey: Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) versus SEA (NYSE:SE)

SEA (NYSE:SE) and Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

SEA has a beta of 1.59, meaning that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bentley Systems has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

59.5% of SEA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.2% of Bentley Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of SEA shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.6% of Bentley Systems shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for SEA and Bentley Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SEA	1	3	11	1	2.75
Bentley Systems	1	5	7	0	2.46

SEA currently has a consensus target price of $178.45, indicating a potential upside of 91.58%. Bentley Systems has a consensus target price of $48.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.66%. Given SEA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SEA is more favorable than Bentley Systems.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares SEA and Bentley Systems”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SEA	$22.94 billion	2.39	$444.32 million	$2.52	36.96
Bentley Systems	$1.50 billion	7.67	$277.86 million	$0.86	45.98

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

Profitability

This table compares SEA and Bentley Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SEA	6.93%	15.20%	6.03%
Bentley Systems	18.50%	28.82%	9.67%

Summary

SEA beats Bentley Systems on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SEA

Sea Ltd. is an internet and mobile platform company, which engages in the provision of online gaming services. It operates through the following segments: Digital Entertainment, E-Commerce, and Digital Financial Services. The Digital Entertainment segment offers and develops mobile and PC online games. The E-Commerce segment manages a third-party marketplace through the Shopee mobile app and websites that connect buyers and sellers. The Digital Financial Services segment includes a variety of payment services and loans to individuals and businesses through SeaMoney. Sea was founded by Xiao Dong Li, Gang Ye, and Jing Ye Chen on May 8, 2009 and is headquartered in Singapore.

About Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides infrastructure engineering software solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers open modeling engineering applications, such as MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenBuildings, OpenCities, OpenComms, OpenFlows, OpenPlant, OpenRail, OpenRoads, OpenSite, OpenTower, OpenTunnel, OpenUtilities, and OpenWindowPower; and open simulation engineering applications, including ADINA, AutoPIPE, CUBE, DYNAMEQ, EMME, LEGION, Power Line Systems, RAM, SACS, SPIDA, and STAAD; and geoprofessional applications for modeling and simulation of near and deep subsurface conditions, including AGS, Central, GeoStudio, Imago, Leapfrog, MX Deposit, Oasis montaj, OpenGround, and PLAXIS. It also provides infrastructure cloud applications, such as ProjectWise, SYNCHRO, and AssetWise, as well as iTwin platform that enables users to create and curate cloud native 4D/5D digital representations of physical infrastructure assets consisting of iTwin Capture, iTwin Experience, and iTwin IoT platforms. The company serves civil, structural, geotechnical, subsurface, process engineers, architects, geospatial professionals, city and regional planners, contractors, fabricators, and operations and maintenance engineers. Bentley Systems, Incorporated was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.