Head-To-Head Contrast: Comtech Telecommunications (NASDAQ:CMTL) and F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV)

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) and Comtech Telecommunications (NASDAQ:CMTL) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares F5 and Comtech Telecommunications”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
F5	$3.31 billion	8.10	$692.38 million	$12.56	37.71
Comtech Telecommunications	$499.53 million	0.08	-$155.30 million	($2.21)	-0.61

F5 has higher revenue and earnings than Comtech Telecommunications. Comtech Telecommunications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than F5, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for F5 and Comtech Telecommunications, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
F5	1	5	5	0	2.36
Comtech Telecommunications	1	1	1	0	2.00

F5 presently has a consensus price target of $426.00, indicating a potential downside of 10.06%. Comtech Telecommunications has a consensus price target of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 86.57%. Given Comtech Telecommunications’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Comtech Telecommunications is more favorable than F5.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.7% of F5 shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of F5 shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Comtech Telecommunications shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares F5 and Comtech Telecommunications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
F5	21.95%	21.54%	12.16%
Comtech Telecommunications	-5.52%	9.77%	1.05%

Volatility & Risk

F5 has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Comtech Telecommunications has a beta of 1.59, meaning that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

F5 beats Comtech Telecommunications on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About F5

F5, Inc. provides multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company’s distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud. It offers unified, security, networking, and application management solutions, such as web app and API protection; multi-cloud networking; application delivery and deployment; domain name system; content delivery network; and application deployment and orchestration. The company also provides application security and delivery products, including NGINX Plus; NGINX Management Suite; NGINX Ingress Controller; NGINX App Protect; BIG-IP Packaged Software; and BIG-IP Systems. In addition, it provides a range of professional services, including maintenance, consulting, training, and other technical support services. F5, Inc. sells its products to large enterprise businesses, public sector institutions, governments, and service providers through distributors, value-added resellers, managed service providers, systems integrators, and other indirect channel partners. It has partnerships with public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. The company was formerly known as F5 Networks, Inc. and changed its name to F5, Inc. in November 2021. F5, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About Comtech Telecommunications

Comtech Telecommunications Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of next-gen telecommunication solutions in the United States and internationally. The company’s Satellite and Space Communications segment offers satellite ground station technologies, services and system integration that facilitates the transmission of voice, video, and data over GEO, MEO and LEO satellite constellations, including solid-state and traveling wave tube power amplifiers, modems, VSAT platforms, and frequency converters; and satellite communications and tracking antenna systems, including high precision full motion fixed and mobile X/Y tracking antennas, RF feeds, reflectors, and radomes. This segment also provides over-the-horizon microwave troposcatter equipment that can transmit digitized voice, video, and data over distances up to 200 miles using the troposphere and diffraction, including the Comtech; and solid-state, RF microwave high-power amplifiers and control components designed for radar, electronic warfare, data link, medical and aviation applications, as well as engages in the procurement and supply chain management of electrical, electronic, and electromechanical parts for satellite, launch vehicle, and manned space applications. Its Terrestrial and Wireless Networks segment offers next generation 911 solutions, which includes emergency call routing, location validation, policy-based routing rules, logging, and security functionality; emergency services IP network transport infrastructure for emergency services communications and support; call handling applications for public safety answering points; wireless emergency alerts solutions for network operators; and software and equipment for location-based and text messaging services for various applications including for public safety, commercial, and government services. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.