WEX (NYSE:WEX) versus Cantaloupe (NASDAQ:CTLP) Head to Head Review

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

75.8% of Cantaloupe shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.5% of WEX shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.1% of Cantaloupe shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of WEX shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cantaloupe	21.33%	10.43%	6.62%
WEX	11.79%	41.87%	3.71%

Volatility and Risk

Cantaloupe has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WEX has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Cantaloupe and WEX, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cantaloupe	2	6	1	0	1.89
WEX	0	13	3	0	2.19

Cantaloupe presently has a consensus price target of $12.55, suggesting a potential upside of 18.40%. WEX has a consensus price target of $173.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.53%. Given Cantaloupe’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cantaloupe is more favorable than WEX.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cantaloupe and WEX”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cantaloupe	$302.55 million	2.58	$64.53 million	$0.79	13.42
WEX	$2.63 billion	1.96	$309.60 million	$7.91	18.99

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

Summary

WEX beats Cantaloupe on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe, Inc., a digital payments and software services company, provides technology solutions for self-service commerce market. The company offers integrated solutions for payments processing, logistics, and back-office management. It also provides G11 cashless and pulse kits that are 4G LTE digital payment devices for payment and consumer engagement applications; G11 chip kit, a digital reader that accepts contact EMV and contactless EMV payment methods; Engage series comprising Engage and Engage Combo, which are digital touchscreen devices that offers networking, security, and interactivity payment methods; and card touchscreen card readers, including P66, P100, P100Pro, and P30. In addition, the company offers self-checkout kiosks,?smart store?concepts, and the Cantaloupe Go management platform comprising Go Mini, Go MiniX, Go Plus100, Go Plus200, Go Plus300, Go Max, Cooler Cafe, and Smart Market; Go Portal, a robust cloud-based platform; and Cheq products, which supports attended and unattended self-service kiosks for the stadium, entertainment, and festival sectors. Further, it provides integrated software services for payment or asset tracking devices in the field to connect into platform for advanced data management, analytics, route scheduling, and loyalty and reward programs; and a range of self-service hardware solutions for vending, micro-markets, amusement, arcade, commercial laundry, air/vacuum, car wash, and other applications. Additionally, the company offers professional, network infrastructure, card processing, and customer/consumer services. Cantaloupe, Inc. was formerly known as USA Technologies, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

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.