Western Union (NYSE:WU) versus PAR Technology (NYSE:PAR) Critical Review

PAR Technology (NYSE:PAR) and Western Union (NYSE:WU) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares PAR Technology and Western Union’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PAR Technology	-16.04%	-2.57%	-1.56%
Western Union	10.88%	55.94%	6.39%

Volatility & Risk

PAR Technology has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Union has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for PAR Technology and Western Union, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PAR Technology	1	2	5	0	2.50
Western Union	4	5	0	0	1.56

PAR Technology presently has a consensus target price of $26.17, suggesting a potential upside of 55.42%. Western Union has a consensus target price of $8.64, suggesting a potential upside of 12.22%. Given PAR Technology’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe PAR Technology is more favorable than Western Union.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.8% of Western Union shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of PAR Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Western Union shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares PAR Technology and Western Union”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PAR Technology	$455.55 million	1.52	-$84.46 million	($1.87)	-9.00
Western Union	$4.05 billion	0.59	$499.60 million	$1.36	5.66

Western Union has higher revenue and earnings than PAR Technology. PAR Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western Union, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Western Union beats PAR Technology on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PAR Technology

PAR Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides omnichannel cloud-based hardware and software solutions to the restaurant and retail industries worldwide. The Restaurant/Retail segment offers PUNCHH, an enterprise-grade customer loyalty and engagement solution; MENU, an eCommerce platform for restaurant brands; BRINK POS, an open cloud, point-of-sale solution; PAR PAYMENT SERVICES, a merchant services business that enables electronic payment and processing services for businesses; and DATA CENTRAL, a back-office solution that leverages business intelligence and automation technologies. This segment also offers Point-of-Sale Hardware; wireless headsets for drive-thru order-taking; and kitchen display systems, payment devices, cash drawers, printers, and other peripherals. In addition, this segment provides services, such as hardware repair, installation and implementation, training, and on-site and technical support services. The Government segment provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions; mission systems operations and maintenance, and commercial software products; systems engineering support and software-based solutions; satellite and teleport facility operation and maintenance, engineering, and installation services comprising inside and outside plant services, and maintenance of infrastructure and information systems; satellite ground system support comprising operations and maintenance, sustainment, upgrades, communications security management, anomaly response/resolution, process improvement, emergency response, and disaster recovery services; and information technology infrastructure library services to the United States Department of Defense, intelligence community (IC), and other federal agencies. This segment also offers various IC support services, systems integration, situational awareness solutions, and mission readiness support services. The company was founded in 1968 and is based in New Hartford, New York.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices. The Consumer Services segments offers bill payment services, which facilitate payments for consumers, businesses, and other organizations, as well as money order services, retail foreign exchange services, prepaid cards, lending partnerships, and digital wallets. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.