PPDAI Group (NYSE:FINV – Get Free Report) and SLM (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
31.1% of PPDAI Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.9% of SLM shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.0% of PPDAI Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of SLM shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk and Volatility
PPDAI Group has a beta of 0.31, indicating that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLM has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares PPDAI Group and SLM’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| PPDAI Group | 14.49% | 12.31% | 7.95% |
| SLM | 20.43% | 26.34% | 1.93% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares PPDAI Group and SLM”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| PPDAI Group | $1.94 billion | 0.37 | $363.56 million | $1.06 | 2.78 |
| SLM | $2.63 billion | 1.18 | $744.85 million | $2.76 | 6.14 |
SLM has higher revenue and earnings than PPDAI Group. PPDAI Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SLM, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations for PPDAI Group and SLM, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| PPDAI Group | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
| SLM | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2.36 |
PPDAI Group presently has a consensus target price of $4.10, suggesting a potential upside of 39.22%. SLM has a consensus target price of $26.44, suggesting a potential upside of 56.11%. Given SLM’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SLM is more favorable than PPDAI Group.
Summary
SLM beats PPDAI Group on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About PPDAI Group
FinVolution Group operates in the online consumer finance industry. The company operates a fintech platform that is empowered by borrowers with financial institutions. It operates in China and internationally. The company was formerly known as PPDAI Group Inc. and changed its name to FinVolution Group in November 2019. FinVolution Group was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China.
About SLM
SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It is also involved in the provision of retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts. The company was formerly known as New BLC Corporation and changed its name to SLM Corporation in December 2013. SLM Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.
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