Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) and Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) Head to Head Contrast

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) and Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Medallion Financial and Cipher Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medallion Financial	17.96%	12.47%	1.95%
Cipher Mining	-20.32%	-6.78%	-5.69%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Medallion Financial and Cipher Mining’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medallion Financial	$194.24 million	0.94	$55.08 million	$2.12	3.67
Cipher Mining	$126.84 million	9.21	-$25.78 million	($0.10)	-39.40

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Medallion Financial and Cipher Mining, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medallion Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00
Cipher Mining	0	1	6	0	2.86

Medallion Financial presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 53.65%. Cipher Mining has a consensus target price of $5.50, suggesting a potential upside of 39.59%. Given Medallion Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Medallion Financial is more favorable than Cipher Mining.

Volatility & Risk

Medallion Financial has a beta of 2.08, indicating that its stock price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cipher Mining has a beta of 2.32, indicating that its stock price is 132% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

40.6% of Medallion Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.3% of Cipher Mining shares are held by institutional investors. 22.4% of Medallion Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Cipher Mining shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Medallion Financial beats Cipher Mining on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Medallion Financial

Medallion Financial Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Recreation Lending, Home Improvement Lending, Commercial Lending, and Taxi Medallion Lending. The company offers loans that finance consumer purchases of recreational vehicles, boats, and other consumer recreational equipment; consumer financing for window, siding, and roof replacement, swimming pool installations, and other home improvement projects; senior and subordinated loans for the purchase of equipment and related assets necessary to open a new business, or purchase or improvement of an existing business; and taxi medallion loans to individuals and small to mid-size businesses. It also provides debt, mezzanine, and equity investment capital to companies in various commercial industries; and raises deposits and conducts other banking activities. Medallion Financial Corp. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in New York City, New York.

About Cipher Mining

Cipher Mining Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and operation of industrial scale bitcoin mining data centers in the United States. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Cipher Mining Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bitfury Holding B.V.