Head to Head Review: WEX (NYSE:WEX) vs. Surna (OTCMKTS:SRNA)

WEX (NYSE:WEX) and Surna (OTCMKTS:SRNA) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares WEX and Surna’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WEX	12.56%	43.19%	3.53%
Surna	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares WEX and Surna”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WEX	$2.66 billion	2.44	$304.10 million	$10.04	19.01
Surna	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.01)	-420.21

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.5% of WEX shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.8% of Surna shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of WEX shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Surna shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for WEX and Surna, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WEX	0	8	6	0	2.43
Surna	0	0	0	0	0.00

WEX currently has a consensus target price of $183.30, suggesting a potential downside of 3.94%. Given WEX’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WEX is more favorable than Surna.

Summary

WEX beats Surna on 11 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WEX

WEX Inc. operates a commerce platform in the United States and internationally. The Mobility segment offers fleet vehicle payment solutions, transaction processing, and information management services; and provides account activation and account retention services; authorization and billing inquiries, and account maintenance services; account management; credit and collections services; merchant services; analytics solutions; and ancillary services and offerings. This segment markets its products directly and indirectly to businesses and government agencies with fleets of commercial vehicles; and indirectly through co-branded and private label relationships. The Corporate Payments segment provides payment solutions, including embedded payments; and accounts payable automation and spend management solutions. This segment also markets its products directly and indirectly to customers in travel, fintech, insurance, consumer bill pay, and media verticals. The Benefits Solutions segment offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for consumer directed healthcare benefits and full-service benefit enrollment solutions. In addition, its SaaS platform includes embedded payment solutions and plan administration services for consumer-directed health benefits; COBRA accounts; and benefit enrollment and administration services. Further, it offers custodial and depository services for health savings accounts; and markets its products through third-party administrators, financial institutions, payroll providers, and health plans. The company was formerly known as Wright Express Corporation and changed its name to WEX Inc. in October 2012. WEX Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Portland, Maine.

About Surna

Surna Inc. designs, engineers, and sells environmental control and other technologies for controlled environment agriculture to state- and provincial-regulated cannabis cultivators in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Its products and services include liquid-based process cooling systems and other climate control systems; air handling equipment and systems; a full-service engineering package for designing and engineering commercial scale thermodynamic systems for cannabis cultivation facilities; and automation and control devices, systems, and technologies used for environmental, lighting, and climate control. The company also offers mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering services; develops and sells a four-pipe environmental control system with Surna branded fan coil units and custom air handlers; and develops destratification fans, as well as provides facility retrofit services. Surna Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.