Contrasting Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) & Paymentus (NYSE:PAY)

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) and Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Paymentus and Marqeta, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Paymentus	0	3	3	1	2.71
Marqeta	2	8	1	0	1.91

Paymentus presently has a consensus target price of $35.20, suggesting a potential upside of 24.72%. Marqeta has a consensus target price of $20.12, suggesting a potential upside of 26.81%. Given Marqeta’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Marqeta is more favorable than Paymentus.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.4% of Paymentus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Marqeta shares are owned by institutional investors. 55.7% of Paymentus shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.6% of Marqeta shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Paymentus and Marqeta’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Paymentus	5.78%	13.75%	11.53%
Marqeta	0.33%	0.27%	0.15%

Volatility & Risk

Paymentus has a beta of 1.31, indicating that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marqeta has a beta of 1.31, indicating that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Paymentus and Marqeta”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Paymentus	$1.20 billion	2.97	$66.94 million	$0.57	49.51
Marqeta	$624.88 million	2.69	-$13.93 million	$0.04	396.75

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

Summary

Paymentus beats Marqeta on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Paymentus

Paymentus Holdings, Inc. provides cloud-based bill payment technology and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers electronic bill presentment and payment services, enterprise customer communication, and self-service revenue management to billers through a software-as-a-service technology platform. Its platform's payment processing includes credit cards, debit cards, eChecks, and digital wallets. It serves utility, financial service, government, insurance, telecommunication, real estate management, education, consumer finance, healthcare, and small business industries. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Marqeta

Marqeta, Inc. operates a cloud-based open application programming interface platform that delivers card issuing and transaction processing services. It offers its solutions in various verticals, including financial services, on-demand services, expense management, and e-commerce enablement, as well as buy now, pay later. Marqeta, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Oakland, California.