Comparing EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) and Jiayin Group (NASDAQ:JFIN)

Jiayin Group (NASDAQ:JFIN) and EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Jiayin Group and EZCORP”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jiayin Group	$889.76 million	0.09	$219.61 million	$0.64	2.42
EZCORP	$1.58 billion	1.14	$109.61 million	$1.98	14.91

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Jiayin Group and EZCORP, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jiayin Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
EZCORP	0	2	6	0	2.75

EZCORP has a consensus price target of $39.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.11%. Given EZCORP’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe EZCORP is more favorable than Jiayin Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

44.1% of Jiayin Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of EZCORP shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.2% of Jiayin Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of EZCORP shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Jiayin Group has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EZCORP has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Jiayin Group and EZCORP’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jiayin Group	5.39%	5.02%	2.57%
EZCORP	9.97%	13.99%	7.49%

Summary

EZCORP beats Jiayin Group on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jiayin Group

Jiayin Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides online consumer finance services in the People's Republic of China. The company operates a fintech platform that facilitates connections between individual borrowers and financial institutions. It also offers referral services for investment products offered by the financial service providers; and technology development and services, as well as guarantee services. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Jiayin Group Inc. operates as a subsidiary of New Dream Capital Holdings Limited.

About EZCORP

EZCORP, Inc. provides pawn services in the United States and Latin America. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Other Investments. The company offers pawn loans collateralized by tangible personal property, jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, and musical instruments. It also retails merchandise, primarily collateral forfeited from pawn lending operations and pre-owned merchandise purchased from customers. In addition, the company provides EZ+, a web-based application that allow customers to manage their pawn transactions, layaways, and loyalty rewards online. Further, it operates under the EZPAWN, Value Pawn & Jewelry, Empeño Fácil, Cash Apoyo Efectivo, GuatePrenda, and MaxiEfectivo brands. EZCORP, Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.