Contrasting Currenc Group (NASDAQ:CURR) and WEX (NYSE:WEX)

Currenc Group (NASDAQ:CURR) and WEX (NYSE:WEX) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Currenc Group and WEX’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Currenc Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
WEX	12.56%	43.19%	3.53%

Risk and Volatility

Currenc Group has a beta of 0.11, indicating that its stock price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WEX has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Currenc Group and WEX, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Currenc Group	2	0	0	0	1.00
WEX	0	8	5	0	2.38

WEX has a consensus price target of $187.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.52%. Given WEX’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe WEX is more favorable than Currenc Group.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Currenc Group and WEX”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Currenc Group	$37.81 million	5.07	-$18.43 million	($0.30)	-8.33
WEX	$2.66 billion	2.38	$304.10 million	$10.04	18.53

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.0% of Currenc Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.5% of WEX shares are held by institutional investors. 43.3% of Currenc Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of WEX shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

WEX beats Currenc Group on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Currenc Group

Currenc Group, Inc. engages in operating a fintech banking platform. It operates through the following segments: Remittance Services, Sales of Airtime, and Other Services. The company is headquartered in Singapore.

About WEX

WEX Inc. operates a commerce platform in the United States and internationally. The Mobility segment offers fleet vehicle payment solutions, transaction processing, and information management services; and provides account activation and account retention services; authorization and billing inquiries, and account maintenance services; account management; credit and collections services; merchant services; analytics solutions; and ancillary services and offerings. This segment markets its products directly and indirectly to businesses and government agencies with fleets of commercial vehicles; and indirectly through co-branded and private label relationships. The Corporate Payments segment provides payment solutions, including embedded payments; and accounts payable automation and spend management solutions. This segment also markets its products directly and indirectly to customers in travel, fintech, insurance, consumer bill pay, and media verticals. The Benefits Solutions segment offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for consumer directed healthcare benefits and full-service benefit enrollment solutions. In addition, its SaaS platform includes embedded payment solutions and plan administration services for consumer-directed health benefits; COBRA accounts; and benefit enrollment and administration services. Further, it offers custodial and depository services for health savings accounts; and markets its products through third-party administrators, financial institutions, payroll providers, and health plans. The company was formerly known as Wright Express Corporation and changed its name to WEX Inc. in October 2012. WEX Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Portland, Maine.