Critical Analysis: Corpay (CPAY) and The Competition

Corpay (NYSE:CPAY) is one of 187 public companies in the “Business services, not elsewhere classified” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Corpay to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Corpay and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Corpay	0	0	4	0	3.00
Corpay Competitors	825	5441	11311	282	2.62

Corpay currently has a consensus target price of $360.25, indicating a potential upside of 18.58%. As a group, “Business services, not elsewhere classified” companies have a potential upside of 18.06%. Given Corpay’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Corpay is more favorable than its competitors.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.8% of Corpay shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.6% of shares of all “Business services, not elsewhere classified” companies are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Corpay shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.3% of shares of all “Business services, not elsewhere classified” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Corpay and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Corpay	$3.76 billion	$981.89 million	23.02
Corpay Competitors	$4.24 billion	$444.95 million	-11.09

Corpay’s competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Corpay. Corpay is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Corpay and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Corpay	26.13%	37.56%	7.75%
Corpay Competitors	-23.89%	-165.12%	-8.03%

Risk and Volatility

Corpay has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Corpay’s competitors have a beta of 1.54, meaning that their average stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Corpay beats its competitors on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

Corpay Company Profile

Corpay, Inc. operates as a payments company that helps businesses and consumers manage vehicle-related expenses, lodging expenses, and corporate payments in the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers vehicle payment solutions, which include fuel, tolls, parking, fleet maintenance, and long-haul transportation services, as well as prepaid food and transportation vouchers and cards. It also provides corporate payment solutions consisting of accounts payable automation; virtual cards, cross-border solutions; and purchasing and travel and entertainment card products, as well as lodging payments solutions for employees who travel overnight for work purposes; traveling crews and stranded passengers from airlines and cruise lines; and insurance policyholders displaced from their homes due to damage or catastrophe. In addition, the company offers gifts and payroll cards. It serves business, merchant, consumer, and payment network customers. The company was formerly known as FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Corpay, Inc. in March 2024. Corpay, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.