Critical Review: MBIA (NYSE:MBI) and World Access (OTCMKTS:WAXS)

MBIA (NYSE:MBI) and World Access (OTCMKTS:WAXS) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares MBIA and World Access’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MBIA	-221.25%	N/A	-1.68%
World Access	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for MBIA and World Access, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MBIA	1	0	1	0	2.00
World Access	0	0	0	0	0.00

MBIA currently has a consensus price target of $7.50, suggesting a potential upside of 26.58%. Given MBIA’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe MBIA is more favorable than World Access.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

61.0% of MBIA shares are held by institutional investors. 12.6% of MBIA shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of World Access shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MBIA and World Access”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MBIA	$80.00 million	3.77	-$177.00 million	($3.58)	-1.66
World Access	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

World Access has lower revenue, but higher earnings than MBIA.

Summary

MBIA beats World Access on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MBIA

MBIA Inc. provides financial guarantee insurance services to public finance markets in the United States. It operates United States (U.S.) Public Finance Insurance, and International and Structured Finance Insurance segments. The company issues financial guarantees for municipal bonds, including tax-exempt and taxable indebtedness of the U.S. political subdivisions, as well as utility districts, airports, health care institutions, higher educational facilities, housing authorities, and other similar agencies and obligations issued by private entities. It also insures the non-U.S. public finance and global structured finance, including asset-backed obligations; and sovereign-related and sub-sovereign bonds, and privately issued bonds used for the financing for utilities, toll roads, bridges, public transportation facilities, and other types of infrastructure projects, as well as offers third-party reinsurance services. MBIA Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.

About World Access

World Access, Inc. operates as a global services company providing solutions in customer care to organizations in the travel, financial, health care, and call center industries. It consists of three full service companies and three specialized services companies. World Access Service Corporation serves companies located in the US and companies that have travelers or employees visiting North America. World Access Canada serves companies located in Canada; and World Access Asia serves companies located in eastern Asia, including Japan. World Access Europe provides members of World Access with logistical and medical support throughout the region. Other companies include World Access Provider Network Services; and World Access Transport Services that manages and coordinates all medical evacuation and repatriation activities for World Access. The company is based in Atlanta, Georgia. In April 2001, the company filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court on behalf of itself and certain of its U.S. subsidiaries.