Chindata Group (NASDAQ:CD) vs. Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Critical Review

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) and Chindata Group (NASDAQ:CD) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Virtus Investment Partners has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chindata Group has a beta of 5.06, indicating that its stock price is 406% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Virtus Investment Partners and Chindata Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Virtus Investment Partners	2	2	1	0	1.80
Chindata Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Virtus Investment Partners presently has a consensus target price of $143.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.72%. Given Virtus Investment Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Virtus Investment Partners is more favorable than Chindata Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.5% of Virtus Investment Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% of Chindata Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Virtus Investment Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Chindata Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Virtus Investment Partners and Chindata Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Virtus Investment Partners	13.42%	21.56%	5.27%
Chindata Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Virtus Investment Partners and Chindata Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Virtus Investment Partners	$819.58 million	1.06	$121.75 million	$17.55	7.49
Chindata Group	$1.87 million	509.41	-$5.10 million	($0.03)	-288.67

Virtus Investment Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Chindata Group. Chindata Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Virtus Investment Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Virtus Investment Partners beats Chindata Group on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Virtus Investment Partners

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to individual and institutional clients. It launches separate client focused equity and fixed income portfolios. The firm launches equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds for its clients. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, and real estate markets. The firm also invests in exchange traded funds. It employs a multi manager approach for its products. The firm employs quantitative analysis to make its investments. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against the S&P 500 Index. The firm conducts in-house research to make its investments. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in Hartford, Connecticut.

About Chindata Group

Chindata Group Holdings Limited provides carrier-neutral hyperscale data center solutions in Mainland China, India, and Southeast Asia. It offers artificial intelligence, cloud computing, smart cities and homes, online entertainment, and other on-demand services. The company also provides internet data center colocation and rental services; and technical and consulting services. Its integrated data center solutions include infrastructure, power supply, connectivity and operation and maintenance, and tailor-made to their scale and requirements throughout the planning, design, construction, and operation process. The company was formerly known as BCPE Bridge Stack Limited and changed its name to Chindata Group Holdings Limited in April 2020. Chindata Group Holdings Limited was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.