Head to Head Comparison: Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) and Equitable (NYSE:EQH)

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) and Equitable (NYSE:EQH) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Paymentus and Equitable, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Paymentus	0	5	1	2	2.62
Equitable	1	2	10	1	2.79

Paymentus currently has a consensus price target of $38.67, suggesting a potential upside of 25.42%. Equitable has a consensus price target of $61.82, suggesting a potential upside of 17.39%. Given Paymentus’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Paymentus is more favorable than Equitable.

Volatility & Risk

Paymentus has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equitable has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Paymentus and Equitable’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Paymentus	6.24%	15.26%	12.80%
Equitable	-8.72%	511.35%	0.61%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.4% of Paymentus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Equitable shares are owned by institutional investors. 55.7% of Paymentus shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Equitable shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Paymentus and Equitable”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Paymentus	$1.20 billion	3.25	$66.94 million	$0.66	46.71
Equitable	$11.66 billion	1.23	-$1.38 billion	($3.31)	-15.91

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

Summary

Paymentus beats Equitable on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Paymentus

Paymentus Holdings, Inc. provides cloud-based bill payment technology and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers electronic bill presentment and payment services, enterprise customer communication, and self-service revenue management to billers through a software-as-a-service technology platform. Its platform's payment processing includes credit cards, debit cards, eChecks, and digital wallets. It serves utility, financial service, government, insurance, telecommunication, real estate management, education, consumer finance, healthcare, and small business industries. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy. The Individual Retirement segment offers a suite of variable annuity products primarily to affluent and high net worth individuals. The Group Retirement segment provides tax-deferred investment and retirement services or products to plans sponsored by educational entities, municipalities, and not-for-profit entities, as well as small and medium-sized businesses. The Investment Management and Research segment offers diversified investment management, research, and related services to various clients through institutional. The Protection Solutions segment provides life insurance products, such as VUL insurance and IUL insurance, term life, and employee benefits business, such as dental, vision, life, as well as short- and long-term disability insurance products to small and medium-sized businesses. The Wealth Management segment offers discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory accounts, financial planning and advice, life insurance, and annuity products. The Legacy segment consists of the capital intensive fixed-rate GMxB business that includes ROP death benefits. The company was formerly known as AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Equitable Holdings, Inc. in January 2020. Equitable Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is based in New York, New York.