Critical Survey: Heritage Global (NASDAQ:HGBL) vs. Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER)

Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) and Heritage Global (NASDAQ:HGBL) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Uber Technologies has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heritage Global has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Uber Technologies and Heritage Global”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Uber Technologies	$40.06 billion	3.95	$1.89 billion	$0.62	122.18
Heritage Global	$55.02 million	1.12	$12.48 million	$0.30	5.48

Uber Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Heritage Global. Heritage Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Uber Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.2% of Uber Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.5% of Heritage Global shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Uber Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.8% of Heritage Global shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Uber Technologies and Heritage Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Uber Technologies	5.02%	17.06%	5.16%
Heritage Global	20.29%	19.14%	13.81%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Uber Technologies and Heritage Global, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Uber Technologies	0	4	31	1	2.92
Heritage Global	0	0	0	0	N/A

Uber Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $87.81, indicating a potential upside of 15.91%. Given Uber Technologies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Uber Technologies is more favorable than Heritage Global.

Summary

Uber Technologies beats Heritage Global on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Uber Technologies

Uber Technologies, Inc. develops and operates proprietary technology applications in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia excluding China and Southeast Asia. It operates through three segments: Mobility, Delivery, and Freight. The Mobility segment connects consumers with a range of transportation modalities, such as ridesharing, carsharing, micromobility, rentals, public transit, taxis, and other modalities; and offers riders in a variety of vehicle types, as well as financial partnerships products and advertising services. The Delivery segment allows to search for and discover restaurants to grocery, alcohol, convenience, and other retails; order a meal or other items; and Uber direct, a white-label Delivery-as-a-Service for retailers and restaurants, as well as advertising. The Freight segment manages transportation and logistics network, which connects shippers and carriers in digital marketplace including carriers upfronts, pricing, and shipment booking; and provides on-demand platform to automate logistics end-to-end transactions for small-and medium-sized business to global enterprises. The company was formerly known as Ubercab, Inc. and changed its name to Uber Technologies, Inc. in February 2011. Uber Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Heritage Global

Heritage Global Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset services company with focus on financial and industrial asset transactions. The company operates in three segments: Auction and Liquidation, Refurbishment & Resale, and Brokerage. It provides a suite of market making, acquisitions, refurbishment, dispositions, valuations, and secured lending services. The company focuses on identifying, valuing, acquiring, and monetizing underlying tangible assets. It acts as an adviser, as well as a principal, acquiring, or brokering manufacturing facilities; surplus industrial machinery and equipment; industrial inventories; and charged-off receivable portfolios. The company was formerly known as Counsel RB Capital Inc. and changed its name to Heritage Global, Inc. in August 2013. Heritage Global, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.