Head-To-Head Survey: Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) versus Pathfinder Acquisition (NASDAQ:PFDR)

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) and Pathfinder Acquisition (NASDAQ:PFDR) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Progress Software has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pathfinder Acquisition has a beta of -0.02, suggesting that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Progress Software and Pathfinder Acquisition”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Progress Software	$694.44 million	4.26	$70.20 million	$1.87	36.84
Pathfinder Acquisition	N/A	N/A	$7.97 million	N/A	N/A

Progress Software has higher revenue and earnings than Pathfinder Acquisition.

Profitability

This table compares Progress Software and Pathfinder Acquisition’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Progress Software	11.55%	38.69%	10.64%
Pathfinder Acquisition	N/A	-102.69%	4.33%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Progress Software and Pathfinder Acquisition, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Progress Software	0	1	5	0	2.83
Pathfinder Acquisition	0	0	0	0	0.00

Progress Software presently has a consensus target price of $67.67, suggesting a potential downside of 1.79%. Given Progress Software’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Progress Software is more favorable than Pathfinder Acquisition.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.8% of Pathfinder Acquisition shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of Progress Software shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of Pathfinder Acquisition shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Progress Software beats Pathfinder Acquisition on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Progress Software

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers. It also provides MOVEit, a managed file transfer software for managing and controlling the movement of sensitive files and securing them both at-rest and in-transit; DataDirect, a secure data connectivity tools for Relational, NoSQL, Big Data and SaaS data sources; WhatsUp Gold, a network infrastructure monitoring software providing complete visibility of all network devices, servers, virtual machines, and cloud and wireless environments to find and fix network problems; Flowmon, a network security and visibility product with automated response across hybrid cloud ecosystems; Corticon, a decision automation platform to transform user experiences by streamlining and automating complex business rules; MarkLogic, a data agility platform to connect data and metadata; and Semaphore, a Semantic AI platform. The company offers project management, implementation, custom software development, programming, and other services, as well as web-enable applications; and training services. It sells its products to end users, independent software vendors, original equipment manufacturers, system integrators, value added resellers, and distributors. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

About Pathfinder Acquisition

Pathfinder Acquisition Corporation does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses in the technology or technology-enabled sectors. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is based in Palo Alto, California.