Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR – Get Free Report) and Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP – Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
44.7% of Aurora Innovation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.1% of Simulations Plus shares are held by institutional investors. 13.8% of Aurora Innovation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of Simulations Plus shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings for Aurora Innovation and Simulations Plus, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Aurora Innovation | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Simulations Plus | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Profitability
This table compares Aurora Innovation and Simulations Plus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Aurora Innovation | N/A | -41.20% | -36.62% |
| Simulations Plus | 16.22% | 7.95% | 7.35% |
Volatility and Risk
Aurora Innovation has a beta of 2.85, meaning that its share price is 185% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simulations Plus has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Aurora Innovation and Simulations Plus’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Aurora Innovation | $68.00 million | 55.99 | -$796.00 million | ($0.55) | -4.51 |
| Simulations Plus | $59.58 million | 16.58 | $9.96 million | $0.53 | 93.23 |
Simulations Plus has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Aurora Innovation. Aurora Innovation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Simulations Plus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Simulations Plus beats Aurora Innovation on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Aurora Innovation
Aurora Innovation, Inc. operates as a self-driving technology company in the United States. It focuses on developing Aurora Driver, a platform that brings a suite of self-driving hardware, software, and data services together to adapt and interoperate vehicles. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
About Simulations Plus
Simulations Plus, Inc. develops drug discovery and development software for modeling and simulation, and prediction of molecular properties utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning based technology worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Software and Services. It offers GastroPlus, which simulates the absorption and drug interaction of compounds administered to humans and animals; and DDDPlus and MembranePlus simulation products. The company also provides products based on mechanistic and mathematical models, such as DILIsym, NAFLDsym, ILDsym, RENAsym, IPFsym, and MITOsym products. In addition, it offers Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicity Predictor for chemistry-based computer program that takes molecular structures as inputs and predicts their properties; and MedChem Designer, as well as MonolixSuite products for modeling and simulation that allows for population analyses, rapid clinical trial data analyses, and regulatory submissions. Further, the company provides clinical-pharmacology-based consulting services, which includes population pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling, exposure-response analyses, clinical trial simulations, data programming, and technical writing services in support of regulatory submissions; and early drug discovery services. Additionally, it offers creative and insightful consulting services to support its quantitative systems pharmacology/quantitative systems toxicology modelling. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrochemical, cosmetics, and food industry companies, as well as academic and regulatory agencies. Simulations Plus, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Lancaster, California.
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