Analyzing MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) & Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS)

Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) and MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Consumer Portfolio Services and MARA”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Consumer Portfolio Services	$202.25 million	0.93	$45.34 million	$0.79	11.08
MARA	$656.38 million	7.38	$261.17 million	$1.36	10.30

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

Risk & Volatility

Consumer Portfolio Services has a beta of 1.78, meaning that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MARA has a beta of 6.1, meaning that its stock price is 510% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

47.6% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.5% of MARA shares are held by institutional investors. 69.0% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of MARA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Consumer Portfolio Services and MARA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consumer Portfolio Services	5.59%	7.59%	0.67%
MARA	27.48%	-8.40%	-6.92%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Consumer Portfolio Services and MARA, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consumer Portfolio Services	0	0	0	0	0.00
MARA	0	6	5	0	2.45

MARA has a consensus price target of $22.80, indicating a potential upside of 62.74%. Given MARA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe MARA is more favorable than Consumer Portfolio Services.

Summary

MARA beats Consumer Portfolio Services on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Consumer Portfolio Services

Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc. operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It is involved in the purchase and service of retail automobile contracts originated by franchised automobile dealers and select independent dealers in the sale of new and used automobiles, light trucks, and passenger vans. The company, through its automobile contract purchases, offers indirect financing to the customers of dealers with limited credit histories or past credit problems. It also serves as an alternative source of financing for dealers, facilitating sales to customers who are not able to obtain financing from commercial banks, credit unions, and the captive finance companies. In addition, the company acquires installment purchase contracts in merger and acquisition transactions; purchases immaterial amounts of vehicle purchase money loans from non-affiliated lenders. It services its automobile contracts through its branches in California, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, and Illinois. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc. operates as a digital asset technology company that mines digital assets with a focus on the bitcoin ecosystem in United States. The company was formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to MARA Holdings, Inc. in August 2024. MARA Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.