Head-To-Head Comparison: Perion Network (NASDAQ:PERI) & Izea Worldwide (NASDAQ:IZEA)

Izea Worldwide (NASDAQ:IZEA) and Perion Network (NASDAQ:PERI) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Izea Worldwide and Perion Network”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Izea Worldwide	$31.24 million	1.67	$40,000.00	($0.14)	-21.36
Perion Network	$439.93 million	0.83	-$7.93 million	($0.35)	-26.60

Izea Worldwide has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Perion Network. Perion Network is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Izea Worldwide, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Izea Worldwide has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perion Network has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Izea Worldwide and Perion Network, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Izea Worldwide	2	0	0	0	1.00
Perion Network	1	1	4	0	2.50

Perion Network has a consensus target price of $13.88, suggesting a potential upside of 49.03%. Given Perion Network’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Perion Network is more favorable than Izea Worldwide.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

15.6% of Izea Worldwide shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.1% of Perion Network shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Izea Worldwide shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Perion Network shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Izea Worldwide and Perion Network’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Izea Worldwide	-9.36%	-5.10%	-4.41%
Perion Network	-2.95%	2.43%	1.81%

Summary

Perion Network beats Izea Worldwide on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Izea Worldwide

IZEA Worldwide, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers software and professional services to connect brands and content creators in North America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company offers IZEA Flex, its flagship platform for managing enterprise influencer marketing; and comprehensive expense management service to track and manage off-platform expenses related to influencer marketing campaigns. It also operates The Creator Marketplace on IZEA.com that provides creators tools to present their work to marketers. In addition, the company provides management of content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics, and payment processing services. It primarily sells influencer marketing and custom content campaigns through client development team and platforms. The company was formerly known as IZEA, Inc. and changed its name to IZEA Worldwide, Inc. in August 2018. IZEA Worldwide, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

About Perion Network

Perion Network Ltd. provides digital advertising solutions to brands, agencies, and publishers in North America, Europe, and internationally. It offers Wildfire, a content monetization platform; search monetization solutions, including website monetization, search mediation, and app monetization; and cross-channel digital advertising software as a service platform. The company also provides supply management platform; demand management platform for campaign planning and design; analytics platform, which provides information and performance insights; creative platform, a robust media platform; and an AI platform that uses machine learning to bring intelligence to the various phases of campaigns. In addition, it offers an actionable performance monitoring platform to support the various phases of campaign management; an online video player and integrated ad server to upload, manage, and stream video content; content monetization system, which integrates ads within the content layouts at the page level. Further, the company provides a publisher management system that provides analytics and performance optimization tools, as well as reports; search-demand management systems; monetization products that integrate and onboards demand vendors; and AI Systems. Additionally, it offers Intelligent HUB (iHUB), which connects the supply and demand sides of the marketplace; and strategic optimization of relevant traits (SORT), a provisional patent technology that eliminates the need for cookies. The company was formerly known as IncrediMail Ltd. and changed its name to Perion Network Ltd. in November 2011. Perion Network Ltd. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Holon, Israel.