Head-To-Head Review: Western Union (NYSE:WU) versus Paysafe (NYSE:PSFE)

Western Union (NYSE:WU) and Paysafe (NYSE:PSFE) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.8% of Western Union shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.4% of Paysafe shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Western Union 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 Western Union and Paysafe”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Union	$4.21 billion	0.85	$934.20 million	$2.73	3.90
Paysafe	$1.70 billion	0.62	-$20.25 million	$0.36	48.24

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

Risk & Volatility

Western Union has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paysafe has a beta of 1.87, indicating that its stock price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Western Union and Paysafe, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Union	3	7	0	0	1.70
Paysafe	2	2	0	0	1.50

Western Union currently has a consensus target price of $12.11, suggesting a potential upside of 13.88%. Paysafe has a consensus target price of $17.88, suggesting a potential upside of 2.93%. Given Western Union’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Western Union is more favorable than Paysafe.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Union	22.19%	96.90%	7.43%
Paysafe	-1.38%	12.92%	2.25%

Summary

Western Union beats Paysafe on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Paysafe

Paysafe Limited provides end-to-end payment solutions in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its payments platform offers a range of payment solutions comprising credit and debit card processing, digital wallet, eCash, and real-time banking solutions for entertainment verticals, such as iGaming, including online betting related to sports, e-sports, fantasy sports, poker, and other casino games, as well as travel, streaming/video gaming, retail/hospitality, and digital assets. The company operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Digital Wallets. The Merchant Solutions segment offers PCI-compliant payment acceptance and transaction processing solutions for merchants and integrated service providers, including merchant acquiring, transaction processing, gateway solutions, fraud and risk management tools, data and analytics, point of sale systems, and merchant financing solutions, as well as comprehensive support services under the Paysafe and Petroleum Card Services brands. The Digital Wallets segment offers digital wallet solutions under the Skrill, NETELLER, paysafecard, and Paysafecash brands; and pay-by-bank solutions under the Rapid Transfer brand. It also provides eCash solutions under the paysafecard and Paysafecash brands; paysafecard prepaid Mastercard that can be linked to a digital paysafecard account and used to make purchases; Safetypay, a platform that enables eCommerce transactions; and PagoEfectivo, an alternative payment platform. The company is based in London, the United Kingdom.