Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) & SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Head-To-Head Comparison

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

Volatility and Risk

SLM has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Consumer Portfolio Services has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SLM and Consumer Portfolio Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SLM	$2.63 billion	2.01	$744.85 million	$3.58	7.83
Consumer Portfolio Services	$434.47 million	0.47	$19.33 million	$0.92	10.34

SLM has higher revenue and earnings than Consumer Portfolio Services. SLM 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SLM	26.09%	33.81%	2.51%
Consumer Portfolio Services	4.78%	6.91%	0.54%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.9% of SLM shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.6% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of SLM shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 63.7% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for SLM and Consumer Portfolio Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SLM	1	6	5	0	2.33
Consumer Portfolio Services	0	1	0	0	2.00

SLM presently has a consensus target price of $29.80, suggesting a potential upside of 6.31%. Given SLM’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe SLM is more favorable than Consumer Portfolio Services.

Summary

SLM beats Consumer Portfolio Services on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.