Analyzing Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) & Usio (NASDAQ:USIO)

Usio (NASDAQ:USIO) and Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.2% of Usio shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Paymentus shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.8% of Usio shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 87.8% of Paymentus shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Usio and Paymentus”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Usio	$82.93 million	0.43	$3.31 million	($0.02)	-65.50
Paymentus	$871.74 million	3.32	$44.17 million	$0.46	50.20

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Usio	-0.46%	-2.05%	-0.37%
Paymentus	5.29%	12.68%	10.68%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Usio and Paymentus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Usio	2	1	1	0	1.75
Paymentus	0	4	4	0	2.50

Usio presently has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 205.34%. Paymentus has a consensus price target of $37.50, indicating a potential upside of 62.41%. Given Usio’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Usio is more favorable than Paymentus.

Volatility & Risk

Usio has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paymentus has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Paymentus beats Usio on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Usio

Usio, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated electronic payment processing services to merchants and businesses in the United States. The company offers various types of automated clearing house (ACH) processing; and credit, prepaid card, and debit card-based processing services. Its ACH transaction processing services include Represented Check and Check Conversion for electronic payment facilitation. In addition, the company offers merchant account services for the processing of card-based transactions through the VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB networks, including online terminal services accessed through a website or retail services accessed through a physical terminal. Further, it provides a proprietary web-based customer service application that allows companies to process one-time and recurring payments through e-checks or credit cards; and an interactive voice response telephone system to companies, which accept payments directly from consumers over the telephone using e-checks or credit cards. Additionally, the company offers prepaid and incentive card issuance services; and operates a prepaid core processing platform, as well as provides additional services, such as electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition, and printing and mailing services for various industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions. It markets and sells ACH products and services primarily through resellers; and prepaid card program directly to government entities, corporations, and to consumers through the internet. The company was formerly known as Payment Data Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Usio, Inc. in June 2019. Usio, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

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.