Critical Comparison: A10 Networks (NYSE:ATEN) & Agilysys (NASDAQ:AGYS)

A10 Networks (NYSE:ATEN) and Agilysys (NASDAQ:AGYS) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares A10 Networks and Agilysys”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
A10 Networks	$290.56 million	6.44	$42.14 million	$0.60	42.93
Agilysys	$319.31 million	8.80	$38.79 million	$1.51	65.99

A10 Networks has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Agilysys. A10 Networks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Agilysys, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.6% of A10 Networks shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.0% of Agilysys shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of A10 Networks shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.7% of Agilysys shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for A10 Networks and Agilysys, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A10 Networks	0	5	2	0	2.29
Agilysys	0	3	5	0	2.62

A10 Networks currently has a consensus target price of $30.88, suggesting a potential upside of 19.87%. Agilysys has a consensus target price of $124.60, suggesting a potential upside of 25.05%. Given Agilysys’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Agilysys is more favorable than A10 Networks.

Profitability

This table compares A10 Networks and Agilysys’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A10 Networks	13.85%	23.63%	8.09%
Agilysys	12.99%	11.94%	8.20%

Risk & Volatility

A10 Networks has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agilysys has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Agilysys beats A10 Networks on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About A10 Networks

A10 Networks, Inc. provides networking solutions in the Americas, Japan, rest of Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers Thunder Application Delivery Controller that provides advanced server load balancing; Thunder Carrier Grade Networking, which provides standards-compliant address and protocol translation services between varying types of internet protocol addresses; Thunder Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Insight that decrypts SSL-encrypted traffic and forwards it to a third-party security device for deep packet inspection; and Thunder Convergent Firewall, which addresses multiple critical security capabilities in one package. It also provides intelligent management and automation tool comprising harmony controller that provides intelligent management, automation, and analytics for secure application delivery. In addition, the company offers A10 Defend Threat Control, a standalone SaaS platform; A10 Defend Orchestrator provides a centralized point of control for seamless distributed denial of service (DDoS) defense management and execution; A10 Defend Detector, a Netflow, Sflow, IPFIX-based DDoS detector used to easily manage the scale and heterogenous nature of SP networks; and A10 Defend Mitigator, a precision, automated, scalable, and intelligent DDoS mitigation solution. It delivers its solutions in optimized hardware appliances, bare metal software, containerized software, virtual appliances, and cloud-native software forms. The company serves cloud providers; cloud, telecommunications, and multiple system and cable service providers; government organizations; and enterprises in the telecommunications, technology, industrial, government, retail, financial, gaming, and education industries. It markets its products through sales organizations; and distribution channel partners, such as distributors, value added resellers, and system integrators. A10 Networks, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About Agilysys

Agilysys, Inc. operates as a developer and marketer of software-enabled solutions and services to the hospitality industry in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and India. It offers software solutions fully integrated with third party hardware and operating systems; cloud applications, support, and maintenance; subscription and maintenance; and professional services. The company’s hospitality software solutions include hospitality experience cloud offers solution ecosystems that combine core operational systems for property management, point-of-sale (POS), and inventory and procurement; and Hospitality Solution Studios. Its food and beverage ecosystem solutions comprise InfoGenesis POS; IG Kiosk; IG Flex; IG KDS; IG OnDemand; IG Fly; IG Quick Pay; IG Smart Menu; IG Digital Menu Board; IG PanOptic AI-powered self-checkout kiosk; Pay, a payment processing solution; eCash for cashless tender; gift card solution; and Analyze, a cloud-based data analytic platform. The company’s inventory and procurement ecosystem solutions include Eatec solution and Stratton Warren System; LMS, a on-premise or hosted, web and mobile-enabled PMS solution; Versa, a hospitality solution; and Stay, a cloud-native SaaS property management system. Its hospitality and leisure and experience enhancer solutions comprise Book, Express Kiosk and Express Mobile for check-in and check-out; Spa software; Golf; Sales & Catering; Service; Authorize; DataMagine; Reserve solution; Digital Marketing solution; Retail POS solution; Central Reservations; Loyalty & Promotions; Membership; Residence Management; and Guest App. It serves hotels, resorts and cruise lines, casinos, corporate food service management, restaurants, universities, stadiums, and healthcare. The company was formerly known as Pioneer-Standard Electronics, Inc. and changed its name to Agilysys, Inc. in 2003. Agilysys, Inc. was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.