Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) and Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) Head-To-Head Analysis

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) and Hello Group (NASDAQ:MOMO) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Gen Digital and Hello Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gen Digital	0	0	0	1	4.00
Hello Group	1	2	2	0	2.20

Hello Group has a consensus price target of $7.93, suggesting a potential upside of 22.87%. Given Hello Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hello Group is more favorable than Gen Digital.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Gen Digital and Hello Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gen Digital	$3.83 billion	4.25	$616.00 million	$0.95	27.39
Hello Group	$11.30 billion	0.08	$275.72 million	$1.10	5.86

Gen Digital has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Hello Group. Hello Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gen Digital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Gen Digital has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hello Group has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Gen Digital and Hello Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gen Digital	15.87%	52.29%	7.36%
Hello Group	12.40%	12.09%	8.27%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.4% of Gen Digital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.0% of Hello Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.8% of Gen Digital shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 61.4% of Hello Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Gen Digital beats Hello Group on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gen Digital

Gen Digital Inc. provides cyber safety solutions for consumers in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. It offers security and performance products comprising that provide real-time protection for PCs, Macs and mobile devices against malware, viruses, adware, and other online threats; and Norton and LifeLock identity theft protection solution that offers monitoring, alerts, and restoration services to its customers. The company also provides Dark Web Monitoring product, which looks for personal information of its members on the Dark Web; Avast Secure Identity that provides advanced identity protection including credit monitoring and alerts; LifeLock Home Title Protect that detects fraud and notifies members; and Norton Social Media Monitoring that help keep customers' social media accounts safer by monitoring them for account takeovers, risky activity, and inappropriate content. In addition, it offers VPN solution, which enhances security and online privacy by providing an encrypted data tunnel;Norton Privacy Monitor Assistant, an on-demand, white glove service where agents help members delete personal information from data brokers online; Avira Security, a consumer-focused portfolio of cybersecurity and privacy solutions; AntiTrack product, which helps to keep personal information and browsing activity private by blocking trackers and disguising digital fingerprints online; and Online Reputation Management solution that manages online search results, personal branding, and digital privacy. It markets and sells its products and related services through retailers, telecom service providers, hardware original equipment manufacturers, and employee benefit providers, as well as e-commerce platform. The company was formerly known as NortonLifeLock Inc. and changed its name to Gen Digital Inc. in November 2022. Gen Digital Inc. was founded in 1982 and is based in Tempe, Arizona.

About Hello Group

Hello Group Inc. provides mobile-based social and entertainment services in the People's Republic of China. It operates in three segments: Momo, Tantan, and QOOL. The company offers Momo, a mobile application that connects people and facilitates social interactions based on location, interests, and various online recreational activities, including live talent shows, short videos, social games, as well as other video- and audio-based interactive experiences, such as online parties, mobile karaoke and user participated reality shows; Tantan, a social and dating application; and other applications under the Hertz, Soulchill, Duidui, and Tietie names. The company also provides livestream services for various content and activities comprising talent shows, such as singing, dancing, and talk shows, as well as casual chatting, and other forms of interactions between broadcasters and viewers; value-added services; advertising and marketing services; and mobile games. The company was formerly known as Momo Inc. and changed its name to Hello Group Inc. in August 2021. Hello Group Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.