DFIN vs LZ vs VERX Stock Comparison

Donnelley Financial Solutions, Legalzoom.Com and Vertex Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LZ Legalzoom.Com, Inc.
$6.93 +23.8% 1M -30.5% 1Y
Market cap
$1.16B
P/E
70.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$792.49M
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology
2 wins
VERX Vertex, Inc.
$15.83 +31.8% 1M -30.9% 1Y
Market cap
$2.55B
P/E
714.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$787.44M
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Donnelley Financial Solutions leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Donnelley Financial Solutions 8, Legalzoom.Com 2, Vertex 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDFINLZVERXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.66B $1.16B $2.55B VERX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.2x 70.0x 714.4x DFIN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.7x 10.2x 20.3x LZ
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.8% +12.3% +10.8% LZ
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.4% 2.1% 0.5% DFIN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 19.0% — 0.0% DFIN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.5x — 1.1x DFIN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.00% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +47.3% -30.5% -30.9% DFIN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.7%/yr -23.9%/yr -5.5%/yr DFIN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.7% 64.8% 61.3% DFIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 77/100 66/100 48/100 DFIN

Percentile Scorecard

DFINLZVERX

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisDFINLZVERX
Valuation 94 #7 of 100 85 #16 of 100 39 #61 of 100
Growth 52 #47 of 97 44 #55 of 97 76 #24 of 97
Profitability 90 #10 of 94 73 #26 of 94 54 #44 of 94
Financial Health 67 #37 of 111 38 #69 of 111 35 #73 of 111
Shareholder Returns 83 #12 of 64 91 #7 of 64 35 #42 of 64
Overall 77 66 48
  • DFIN ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • LZ ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • VERX ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodDFINLZVERXSPY
1 month +45.4%+23.8%+31.8% -2.3%
3 months +39.1%-16.0%+18.1% -0.7%
6 months +33.7%+2.1%+18.7% +4.8%
Year to date +45.0%-30.2%-20.7% +10.3%
1 year +47.3%-30.5%-30.9% +10.3%
3 years +23.3%-34.4%-32.4% +73.0%
3 years, per year +7.2%-13.1%-12.2% +20.1%
5 years +58.6%-74.4%-24.6% +61.9%
5 years, per year +9.7%-23.9%-5.5% +10.1%
10 years +225.3%—— +258.6%
10 years, per year +12.5%—— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureDFINLZVERXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.7%64.8%61.3% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 49.7%78.6%61.7% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.540.500.38 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.99-0.47-0.50 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.3%-80.0%-82.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-36.6%-23.6% -3.5%
52-week high $67.69$10.93$20.71 $779.14
52-week low $36.74$5.43$10.58 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleDFINLZVERX
P/E now vs peer median 17.2xmedian 28.5x 70.0xmedian 28.5x 714.4xmedian 28.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.8x 1.5xmedian 2.8x 3.2xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.3xmedian 16.8x 12.8xmedian 16.8x 27.1xmedian 16.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.3xmedian 16.2x 7.8xmedian 16.2x 50.6xmedian 16.2x
P/B now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 2.9x 9.1xmedian 2.9x 10.6xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.35median 0.90 1.28median 0.90 25.34median 0.90

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsDFINLZVERX
Revenue $787.20M $792.49M $787.44M
Gross profit $509.00M $528.61M $503.58M
Operating income $151.40M $32.52M -$13.34M
Net income $97.40M $16.85M $3.58M
Free cash flow $178.90M $149.65M $50.48M
R&D – – $91.60M
EPS (diluted) $3.90 $0.10 $0.02
Cash & equivalents $27.20M $167.23M $230.49M
Total debt $127.00M – $338.61M
Shares (diluted) 25.00M 171.64M 161.39M
Enterprise value $1.56B $369.80M $1.41B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricDFINLZVERX
P/E 17.2x 70.0x 714.4x
P/FCF 9.3x 7.8x 50.6x
P/Operating cash flow 7.3x 6.6x 14.7x
P/S 2.1x 1.5x 3.2x
P/B 4.1x 9.1x 10.6x
P/Tangible book 4.1x 10.3x 10.7x
EV/EBITDA 8.3x 12.8x 27.1x
EV/EBIT 11.6x 30.5x -199.6x
EV/Revenue 2.2x 1.3x 3.4x
EV/FCF 9.8x 6.6x 52.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.7x 5.7x 15.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.35 1.28 25.34

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDFINLZVERX
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.8% 12.3% 10.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.1% 7.6% 14.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.1% 14.0% 9.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.9% 8.4% 15.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.2% -7.7% -75.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 198.3% 8.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 199.7% -41.4% 107.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 51.9% 28.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 228.5% -38.3% 107.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.7% 54.8% 28.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 40.6% 6.8% 21.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.8% 12.4% 47.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 76.8% 14.4% 4,078%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 40.4% 15.7% 78.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDFINLZVERX
Gross margin 64.7% 66.7% 64.0%
EBITDA margin 26.8% 9.8% 12.5%
Operating margin 19.2% 4.1% -1.7%
Pretax margin 17.5% 4.8% -1.2%
Net margin 12.4% 2.1% 0.5%
FCF margin 22.7% 18.9% 6.4%
Operating cash flow margin 28.8% 22.1% 22.0%
Return on equity 24.5% 12.3% 1.5%
Return on assets 12.0% 3.5% 0.3%
Return on invested capital 19.0% – 0.0%
Return on capital employed 24.9% 20.2% -2.1%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.7x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 10.4x 48.6x
Stock comp / revenue 4.4% 12.4% 7.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDFINLZVERX
Debt / assets 16.1% – 28.0%
Debt / equity 0.3x – 1.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.5x – 1.1x
Debt / FCF 0.7x – 6.7x
Liabilities / assets 48.1% 72.7% 80.1%
Equity / assets 51.9% 27.3% 19.9%
Interest coverage – 18.6x –
Current ratio 1.1x 0.7x 0.9x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.5x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 5.43 0.05 2.08

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDFINLZVERX
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 8.7% 12.7% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 8.7% 12.7% 1.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusDFINLZVERX
Forward P/E 13.7xFY2026 10.2xFY2026 20.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.93FY2026 $0.68FY2026 $0.78FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.7%FY2026 +9.7%FY2026 +21.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.1% +25.0% +38.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $815.18MFY2026 $847.19MFY2026 $795.75MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.3%FY2026 +12.1%FY2026 +6.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.0% -6.3% +17.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDFINLZVERX
Held by institutions 91.7% 96.0% 46.0%
Institutions holding 247 242 229
Change in shares held, QoQ -5.3% -0.5% -7.0%
Institutions buying 114 122 135
Institutions selling 89 97 69
Buyers to sellers 1.28 1.26 1.96

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

DFINLZVERX
DFIN 1.00 0.39 0.38
LZ 0.39 1.00 0.53
VERX 0.38 0.53 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DFIN, LZ and VERX?

Vertex (VERX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) $1.66B, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) $1.16B, Vertex (VERX) $2.55B.

Which stock is cheaper, DFIN, LZ and VERX?

Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 17.2x, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) 70.0x, Vertex (VERX) 714.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) is cheapest (Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 13.7x, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) 10.2x, Vertex (VERX) 20.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Legalzoom.Com (LZ) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) +4.8%, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) +12.3%, Vertex (VERX) +10.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) has the highest net margin (Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 12.4%, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) 2.1%, Vertex (VERX) 0.5%). On return on invested capital, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) leads (Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 19.0%, Vertex (VERX) 0.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) returned the most: Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) +47.3%, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) -30.5%, Vertex (VERX) -30.9%. Over five years, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) compounded fastest (Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) +9.7%/yr, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) -23.9%/yr, Vertex (VERX) -5.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) has been the steadiest (Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 47.7%, Legalzoom.Com (LZ) 64.8%, Vertex (VERX) 61.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, DFIN, LZ and VERX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.