Block (NYSE:XYZ) and Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) Head-To-Head Comparison

Block (NYSE:XYZ) and Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

70.4% of Block shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Paymentus shares are held by institutional investors. 11.4% of Block shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 55.7% of Paymentus shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Block and Paymentus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Block	0	9	29	3	2.85
Paymentus	0	4	3	2	2.78

Block presently has a consensus target price of $95.61, suggesting a potential upside of 25.21%. Paymentus has a consensus target price of $38.86, suggesting a potential upside of 18.68%. Given Block’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Block is more favorable than Paymentus.

Profitability

This table compares Block and Paymentus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Block	1.43%	8.10%	4.53%
Paymentus	6.24%	15.26%	12.80%

Risk & Volatility

Block has a beta of 2.55, suggesting that its share price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paymentus has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Block and Paymentus”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Block	$24.19 billion	1.90	$1.31 billion	$0.56	136.37
Paymentus	$1.20 billion	3.45	$66.94 million	$0.66	49.61

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

Summary

Block beats Paymentus on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Block

Square, Inc. provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions. The company also provides Square Point of Sale software; Cash App, which provides access to the financial system, allowing customers to electronically send, store, and spend money; Caviar, a food ordering platform for restaurants to offer food ordering, pickup and delivery, to their customers; and Square Capital that facilitates loans to sellers based on real-time payment and point-of-sale data. Square, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Paymentus

Paymentus Holdings, Inc. provides cloud-based bill payment technology and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers electronic bill presentment and payment services, enterprise customer communication, and self-service revenue management to billers through a software-as-a-service technology platform. Its platform's payment processing includes credit cards, debit cards, eChecks, and digital wallets. It serves utility, financial service, government, insurance, telecommunication, real estate management, education, consumer finance, healthcare, and small business industries. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.