Contrasting Internet Initiative Japan (OTCMKTS:IIJIY) and Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z)

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) and Internet Initiative Japan (OTCMKTS:IIJIY) are both mid-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zillow Group and Internet Initiative Japan”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zillow Group	$2.58 billion	2.62	$23.00 million	$0.22	136.82
Internet Initiative Japan	$2.29 billion	1.71	$159.64 million	$1.82	23.46

Internet Initiative Japan has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Zillow Group. Internet Initiative Japan is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zillow Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Zillow Group has a beta of 2, suggesting that its share price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Internet Initiative Japan has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

71.0% of Zillow Group shares are held by institutional investors. 25.0% of Zillow Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Internet Initiative Japan shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Zillow Group and Internet Initiative Japan, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zillow Group	1	8	5	2	2.50
Internet Initiative Japan	0	1	0	0	2.00

Zillow Group currently has a consensus price target of $61.29, indicating a potential upside of 103.61%. Given Zillow Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Zillow Group is more favorable than Internet Initiative Japan.

Profitability

This table compares Zillow Group and Internet Initiative Japan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zillow Group	1.96%	2.32%	1.97%
Internet Initiative Japan	6.79%	15.74%	7.15%

Summary

Zillow Group beats Internet Initiative Japan on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc. operates real estate brands in mobile applications and Websites in the United States. The company offers premier agent and rentals marketplaces, new construction marketplaces, advertising, display advertising, and business technology solutions, as well as dotloop and floor plans. It also provides mortgage originations and the sale of mortgages, and advertising to mortgage lenders and other mortgage professionals; and title and escrow services. In addition, the company's brand portfolio includes Zillow Premier Agent, Zillow Home Loans, Zillow Rentals, Trulia, StreetEasy, HotPads, and Out East; and a suite of marketing software and technology solutions for the real estate industry, including ShowingTime+, Spruce, and Follow Up Boss. Zillow Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About Internet Initiative Japan

Internet Initiative Japan Inc. provides Internet connectivity, WAN, outsourcing, systems integration, and network-related equipment sales services in Japan. It operates through two segments, Network Services and Systems Integration Business, and ATM Operation Business. The company offers mobile communication and remote access/telework services; WAN/network services, including SDN, multi-cloud network, closed connection, internet VPN, SEIL, remote access, wireless LAN, and GIGA-school; leased line and broadband services; IIJ DNS platform, and domain name registration and maintenance services; IIJ access ID management, dial-up access, and IIJ IPv6 fiber access services; and security solutions for IIJ managed firewall, DDoS protection, and managed IPS/IDS services. It also provides cloud solutions, such as HaaS/IaaS, cloud storage, monitoring/operation, virtual desktop, Paas/Saas, solution for Microsoft and AWS, IoT/M2M, ID management and authentication, network, global, mobile, license, and specialized solutions, as well as IIJ cloud exchange and IIJ cloud integration solutions; integrated, network, mail, and web security, endpoint, security assessment/consulting, web and mail hosting, online storage, content delivery/CDN/CMS, and system integration; IoT services and solutions in the field of industrial, agriculture, energy, and IoT-oriented mobile communication; industry-specific solution; content delivery; and global/privacy products. In addition, the company offers IT outsourcing, IIJ consulting, cognitive factory, IIJ PC deployment support, IIJ PaaS solution, IIJ EMM utilization support, IIJ private cloud, network solutions, IIJ security audit, IIJ malware analysis, IIJ content management, cloud integration solution for Microsoft and AWS, Microsoft 365 transition support solution, data center service, and data center construction engineering solutions, as well as DX edge services. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.