Contrasting Mastercard (NYSE:MA) & Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS)

Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Fidelity National Information Services has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mastercard has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Fidelity National Information Services and Mastercard’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fidelity National Information Services	1.45%	19.76%	8.73%
Mastercard	45.65%	203.92%	29.74%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.2% of Fidelity National Information Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Mastercard shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Fidelity National Information Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Mastercard shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Fidelity National Information Services pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Mastercard pays an annual dividend of $3.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Fidelity National Information Services pays out 592.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mastercard pays out 21.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelity National Information Services has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Mastercard has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Fidelity National Information Services and Mastercard”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fidelity National Information Services	$10.13 billion	2.60	$1.45 billion	$0.27	188.43
Mastercard	$32.79 billion	15.12	$14.97 billion	$16.52	33.41

Mastercard has higher revenue and earnings than Fidelity National Information Services. Mastercard is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fidelity National Information Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Fidelity National Information Services and Mastercard, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fidelity National Information Services	2	8	12	0	2.45
Mastercard	0	2	16	5	3.13

Fidelity National Information Services presently has a consensus price target of $79.53, indicating a potential upside of 56.31%. Mastercard has a consensus price target of $669.18, indicating a potential upside of 21.23%. Given Fidelity National Information Services’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Fidelity National Information Services is more favorable than Mastercard.

Summary

Mastercard beats Fidelity National Information Services on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fidelity National Information Services

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. engages in the provision of financial services technology solutions for financial institutions, businesses, and developers worldwide. It operates through Banking Solutions, Capital Market Solutions, and Corporate and Other segments. The company provides core processing and ancillary applications; mobile and online banking; fraud, risk management, and compliance; card and retail payment; electronic funds transfer and network; wealth and retirement; and item processing and output solutions. It also offers trading and asset, lending, leveraged and syndicated loan markets, and treasury and risk solutions. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions. It also provides solutions that enable businesses or governments to make payments to businesses, including Virtual Card Number, which is generated dynamically from a physical card and leverages the credit limit of the funding account; a platform to optimize supplier payment enablement campaigns for financial institutions; and treasury intelligence platform that offers corporations with recommendations to enhance working capital performance and accelerate spend on cards. In addition, the company offers Mastercard Send, which partners with digital messaging and payment platforms to enable consumers to send money directly within applications to other consumers; and Mastercard Cross-Border Services enables a range of payment flows through a distribution network with a single point of access to send and receive money globally through various channels, including bank accounts, mobile wallets, cards, and cash payouts. Further, it provides cyber and intelligence solutions; insights and analytics, consulting, marketing, loyalty, processing, and payment gateway solutions for e-commerce merchants; and open banking and digital identity services. The company offers payment solutions and services under the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus name. Mastercard Incorporated was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.